Walking but not Dead yet
by Aspect of Unoriginal Thought
Summary: Clementine has left Lee to die instead of killing him before he turns, however Lee has woken up alive many hours after she left him, Will he ever figure out how he survived the bite? will he ever find Clementine? or will he be claimed by the dead? Disclaimer: I do not own Telltale's Walking Dead nor their characters. Strong Language, Violence, Use of drugs, and Gore.
1. Prologue

Clementine looked at Lee, Bat still in hand. "I did it. I got him."

Lee turned to look at her. "You can take care of yourself, see?"

Clem shook her head. "No, not all the time."

"Yeah you can, don't worry."

Clementine approached the dead officer and picked up the keys then the gun and turned to face Lee.

"Hey." He began. "You're strong, Clem, you can do anything."

"But I'm little."

Lee shook his head. "Doesn't mean nothing. your going to see bad stuff, but its okay."

"My parents. its so horrible."

"I can't imagine, sweet pea."

"And now... you? PLEASE... please don't be one of them. please don't become a walker."

He looked at her and replied slowly: "There's only one thing you can do, you know that."

"I don't know if i can."

Lee thought about it and said: "You can leave me. its okay."

"You'll be just like them."

"Its okay, it won't be me."

Clementine didn't like that. "Leeee..."

"Clem, its time to go. you gotta get out of here."

"You can come with me." Clementine tried.

"No, Clem, I cant. its okay."

Clementine persisted. "PLEASE."

"You have to go. Now."

Clementine had a different idea. "Maybe... maybe i shouldn't let you turn."

"I don't want you to have to do that... This way you just remember me talkin' to you and saying goodbye. Nothing else."

she nodded, with tears. "Its like Larry, honey, he was going one way or the other but at that moment i couldn't do more violence. you have to be careful about that, it'll consume you."

Clementine built up the strength to accept Lee's choice. "I'll go, I'll leave you... i'll go as fast as i can."

Lee felt relieved. "And as safe as you can, always be safe." After a moment of silence he made sure to tell her: "Find... Omid and... Christa. They're probably looking for us right now, stay on high ground, don't go too far and you'll find them." Clementine nodded."They'll take good care of you." Lee said before Clementine started to cry. "And Clem..."

She looked up at him and said: "Huh?"

Lee paused for a minute then said: "Keep that hair short."

She took this seriously. "I will, I'll cut it myself." She told him.

"Great, good... and also..." Lee began to drift away.

"What, what is it?"

Lee snapped back up. "No, don't worry, alright." there was another brief silence. Lee looked at her with pride and sorrow and let out his final words:  
>"I'll miss you."<p>

"Me too." Clementine grabbed Lee's hand as a way of saying goodbye, Lee clutched it. Clementine looked at Lee then got up and eyes the exit. "Don't go." Clementine began backing away towards the exit letting out a slight weep as she approached the exit. Lee lifts up his head to look at her just before completely drifting away...

Several hours later he awoke to the sound of walkers moaning, Clem was nowhere in sight. "…I'm alive?" Lee said aloud before stumbling to his feet. "How the?.. I was bit..." Lee said dumbfounded.

Lee collected himself and then approached the dead police officer Clem had killed before, Lee sighed "I wish Clem didn't have to do things like this… Wait, Clem!" He considered running outside but reconsidered, instead he knelt down beside the officer, his only hand felt completely dry. "She might not be too far, I have to hurry." He then reached for a piece of glass from the shattered window.

clutching a shard of glass he began cutting the stomach of the former police officer. Once he cut the walker open enough he reached inside and pulled out part of the stomach intestines and began quickly smearing blood on his torso. "If the blood on my clothes and on the ground were dry I must have been out for a while, then that means... Clem must be long gone by now."

Once he was sure he had enough he began walking towards the exit.  
>"I should check over by the marsh house, maybe they are still there? I don't know... they probable got out of the city by now, I might never see them again." Opening the door to the exit he sees the ocean of walkers still roaming the city, . Lee then whispered: "I really hope Omid and Christa got to her." As he stepped out he began squinting due to the brightness of the early morning.<p>

He began walking through the herd towards the marsh house,  
><em>"Clem might have just tried walking out of the city, there doesn't seem to be any<em> obvious _way to the rooftops."_ Lee thought. He then turned his attention to the station wagon in the distance. _"Might be a good way to get out of the city if I can_ _get these streets clear."_ He approached the vehicle that had caused so much pain.  
><em>"Looks like it has some gas left in it."<em> Lee thought,  
><em>"Better go down<em> _a few blocks, maybe there's some way to distract this herd."_ He blended in with the walkers going down a couple of wrecked streets until he found a radio store.  
><em>"Maybe Crawford left some speakers in there. might get em moving this way and away from the car."<em>

Lee approached the store but noticed it was empty, no walkers. Lee tried for the ally way between the store and the next door apartment.  
><em>"The bell at<em> _the front will probably alert walkers."_ As the former college professor entered the store he noticed there was almost nothing left. Lee sighed and said:  
>"well better take a look around." He turned to see pictures on the wall.<br>"Looks like staff and probably the people who owned the place."

As he scanned the store he saw two large speakers screwed to the floor of the store. "These are probably pretty loud, too bad there isn't any power *sigh*." After a moment of searching he also noticed a glass display case opposite the room with an expensive CD player with an old rock band album placed on the top of the display. "Still not much use without power, maybe I could just walk-"Lee had begun stumbling in his tracks. "Man I don't feel so good, maybe I just need to find some food or something, I did lose a bit of blood."

He scanned the other half of the record store just to be sure.  
>"Damn this place is dark" he said as he moved through the darker half of the store.<br>"There has to be something useful around here, there HAS to be." He bumped into a shelf alerting a walker in the ally.  
>"OH shit"<br>the walker curiously entered the store  
><em>"I should really be more careful."<em> Lee thought, The walker began making his way towards the back of the store, but once he reached a close proximity to the wounded professor he didn't mind lee being there. Then Lee thought:  
><em>"I'm still covered in this stuff."<em>

Lee then ushered his way towards the walker. Lee grabbed the walker by the back of the collar of his shirt with his only arm, then pulled him back, tossing him to the ground, the walker tried to growl but lee smashed its head in with his foot, muting the walking corpse for good.

Lee then turned his attention to a door that appeared in his peripheral vision. "Huh, maybe there is something I can use in there." he tried turning the knob but it was locked. "Yeah that's what I figured." he approached the front desk and to his astonishment there were two keys just waiting for the taking, he snatched them and made his way over to the metal back room door. "I don't know why I'm wasting my time with this place." He stated doubtful that there was anything that could help him hiding in the backroom of a long abandoned and looted radio store. He placed the first key inside the lock and turned it hearing a click and the door began slowing swinging open.

"Well there's definitely something dead in here." Lee inferred while entering the small dark room covering his nose. "Looks like there is a set of blinds, if I open one I'll be able to see what I've found." He then felt around until he found the pulling mechanism for the blinds. "Here we- *sigh*" Lee saw a sight he was all too familiar with: the body of a suicide victim. "Shame…" then lee noticed he was holding two items a snub nosed pistol and a note. Lee carefully pulled the note out of the dead man's hand it read:

Dear Quintes I know you didn't want to be at Crawford but since we left we have lost too many people, I got bit while you guys were away, anyhow I've left these items and thought the only way to keep them safe was to lock them away. By the time you read this I will be dead I will have shot myself before I would be able to turn, please my most dearest friend take these supply's and make a home for yourself somewhere safe.

Sincerely Jesse

"Poor guy…" Lee thought sympathetically, he then grabbed the gun and placed it In the back of his pants. "Well, looks like he left some supplies behind." Lee said while looking at the items that lay before him, a backpack full of preserved food, two gas cans, and a car battery. "Guess I could attach this battery to the fuse box around back." Lee made sure to turn off all the lights so that the walkers would not enter prematurely.

Lee slowly pulled the car battery around to the back ally. "Must be my lucky day." Once he was outside he grabbed a pair of jumper cables that were wrapped around the battery. He attached the first side of the jumper cable to the fuse box and the other to the battery. "Now the store should be powered for a while." Lee made his way back inside and with the other key he was able to unlock the display case that had an expensive CD player inside. "Let's see how the dead like, 'The Eagles'" lee set up the CD player to the large speakers then the speakers to the wall. "Better grab the other supply's before I start this thing." He grabbed the backpack and looked at the two gas cans bitterly.

"Two cans, one arm." Annoyed, Lee picked up a gas can and using his stump he nudged the switch to the CD player. "Time to go." Lee rushed into the ally way and slowed down once he reached the other side of the street on the other side of the buildings. He struggled his way through the herd. "There it goes." A loud guitar solo played out throughout the streets similar to the volume of a concert. Lee could barely hear himself think, "Now I guess I should make my way to the station wagon."

A few minutes later as lee was on his way back to the station wagon it felt like he was going against the traffic and he was holding a heavy can of gas, he felt himself tiring. "Man maybe a car wasn't worth all this trouble." He thought, as he sweated in the hot morning sun. "Well there's the station wagon." Lee put down the can and reconsidered entering the car. "Even though there are less walkers over here I should wait until the street is clear before opening this car.

After 12 minutes of staring at the marsh house the street was empty except for the herd in the distance.

"Seems safe to hop inside now", the stranger had left his keys in the ignition. "Well I can't say this is the first time that guy has left his keys in the car." Lee thought as he sat down in the driver's seat placing the backpack full of food in the passenger's seat. He then closed his eyes and laid back in his seat. "Clem" he thought. "I hope you made it out okay, and that I'll see you again." He remembered that he had left the gas on the street outside, he placed the gas in the back and got back in the driver's seat.

Lee's stomach growled.  
>"Guess it's time for some food." He reached into the backpack and pulled out a can of family style beans. Lee then checked around the car for something to open it with.<br>"Well got food but I can't get to it, wait a minute..." Lee then pulled out the gun he had found earlier, he placed the can in the cup holder beside him and began beating the can with the butt of the weapon.  
>"Who said creativity is overrated?" finally he somewhat got the can open, just enough to reach inside, as he ate handfuls of cold beans he began giving thought to what his next move was going to be.<p>

_"I wish Christa would have been more specific."_ Lee thought  
><em>"country side? Most of the state is a countryside, or was it the Woods? I cant remember too<em> _well."_ Suddenly he heard thee loud rock music stop.  
>"Well, guess I should get going." He said starting up the station wagon. He drove for several minutes feeling somewhat confident that his plan could still work, that was until he saw a few walkers. Then after two minutes more and more walkers began enters his field of vision. "God damn, they are spreading out again." He said beginning to feel his heart pound.<p>

Eventually as he drove the walkers kept getting more and more numerous by the second.  
>"Shit, maybe if I go around this block." Lee said quickly turning down the street to his right. Only to his dismay there was a large gathering of lurkers just down the street.<br>"SHIT!" frantically Lee slowed to a stop and began turning around but the geeks were already jumping at the car. He quickly put his foot down on the gas pedal hitting two walkers in the process shattering one of his head lights.

He turned on the path he originally was already taking. Lee began breathing harder. He pushed the gas pedal down speeding up seeing several streets ahead begin to fill with the dead hoping to be able to exit the city limits before they blockade him inside the city. "I didn't survival all this to die here!" At this point he was pushing the top speed of the station wagon. The incoming hordes were just about to fill the city limits when he just by the skin of his teeth made it, unscathed.

There were still a few walkers here and there but ultimately they seemed to be decreasing as he drove onward. After half an hour of driving he could see the train that brought him to Savannah. "That train probably wasn't the best idea."

Lee's heart rate slowed as he drove down the highway hoping he would see Clem and the others before too long, he was feeling lonely.

Two hours of driving later lee was almost 100 miles from Savannah and in all that time driving, Lee did not see Clementine anywhere on the road. "Fuck…" Lee said with much sorrow in his tone. The station wagon began sputtering and came to a stop. "Damn... "

As he got out and opened the back of the station wagon he heard an approaching vehicle not far from away.  
>"Maybe that's them, then again maybe not." Lee pulled out the small revolver from the back of his pants. A truck was coming towards him, it was blue with four roof lights on top.<br>_"Hershel told_ _me once to trust strangers."_ he thought as the truck pulled up alongside him. It was a Caucasian man wearing a ball cap and a denim jacket.

There was a short silence, then the stranger spoke, "Nice car you got there."

Lee raised an eyebrow and said "Not exactly my style."

The stranger laughed and said: "need a ride?"

Lee looked at the station wagon and then said: "What's your name, man?"

The stranger replied: "I'm Nate, how about you, brother?"

"Lee." "Well, get your stuff and hop in man I don't got all day."

Lee approached his car, gathered his stuff and then walked towards the truck.

"Yeah just put your stuff in the back so we can get a move on." Nate said. Lee hopped into the truck and they were off.

"So what's the deal with the arm?" Nate asked not caring whether he was being rude or not.

"Long story." Lee replied not amused.

"Well shit I like long stories oh but let me guess first: you were dumb enough to get bit but smart enough to cut it off, is that it?" Nate said smirking all the while.

Lee slightly turned giving him a half glance. "Yeah, something like that." Lee said.

Nate then frowned and said "You're not fun to mess with, I'm guessing you've had a real asshole around you before."

Lee looked out the passenger side window. "There were a couple of bad apples in my group, like this guy Larry, the guy was trying to blackmail me." Lee said with slight resentment.

"What for?" Nate asked half interested.

"I… uh killed a guy." Lee said unsure.

Nate simply replied with a little chuckle. "Who hasn't?"

Lee began to realize bit by bit the kind of guy he was dealing with. "I mean before all this, he was the state senator."

Nate was impressed, "Right on man, fuck the government, I'm starting to respect you, Lee." In the distance was a silhouette of a man waving.

"Wonder who that could be…" Nate said speeding up.

"Nate? What are you doing?"

Nate did not pay any attention to lee as he sped up toward the unidentified stranger. "SLOW THE FUCK DOWN!" Lee screamed. "Time for some road kill! WOO HOODOO!" Nate was clearly enjoying the moment.

"STOP DAMN IT!" Lee ordered

"HAAAAHAAAA!" Nate yelled in joy giving no mind to the screaming one-armed man next to him. Suddenly Lee pulled his gun on Nate giving him a dead serious look. Nate stopped smiling and slowed the truck to a stop. They both got out, Nate wasn't looking at Lee.

"Um hello? Guys?" the unknown person in the road called to them.

**Author's Note: I may have poorly written some of these chapters, I intend to correct them though.**


	2. On the road

Lee looked at Nate coldly, "We can talk about our plans of splitting up later." Lee said with a straight forward attitude.

"Let's see what this guy wants." Nate said while walking towards the stranger. "Well, what do you want?" Nate called to the person standing before them, it was a scrawny light-skinned boy with black hair in a brown jacket,

The boy cleared his throat. "Do you two have any supplies I could have?"

Nate frowned, Lee spoke up saying: "Why are you alone? Do you have any people with you?" The boy looked nervous. "Look if you're in trouble just let us know, we can help."

Suddenly a large bearded man came out of the woods with a shotgun. "Get your gun out, boy!" the man yelled to the boy in the road, in a moment's notice everyone had their guns drawn "So did they say what kind of supplies they got on em?"

"Look we don't want any trouble you put your guns down and we will do the same." Lee said

"Naw what's going to happen is you're both putting your guns down and we are taking your shit and I might let you keep the other arm!"

Lee looked at the boy. "Look this won't end well both sides are going to suffer if you let him do this." The boy looked panicked unsure what to do.

"Don't listen to em! They will kill you!" the man ordered.

Lee still looking to the boy tried once more "Everything is going to be alright." The boy looked at Lee and dropped his gun and then slumped to the ground in tears.

"YOU LITTLE PISS SHIT! GET YOUR ASS UP!" the man yelled frantically focusing all his attention on the boy, suddenly a shot was fired, The large man fell to his knees then on to his face never to get up again.

Lee turned to Nate with a shocked look on his face, Nate turned, "He was just about to kill us Lee I was just keeping us safe, man."

Lee heard a sobbing and turned to look at the boy.

"Dad? Dad wake up! Dad please!" the boy was pushing on the body of his former father, tears coming down his eyes. Nate crossed his arms and looked away without remorse. Lee began to approach the boy slowly reaching out his hand. The boy turned and screamed: "YOU LIAR!"

Lee stopped and closed his eyes in shame. "I'm sorry."

The boy snapped at him "GO AWAY!"

Nate began to walk to his truck, Lee stood there "Please let me help you." Lee tried

"You've done enough just go away."

Lee began to walk to the truck. Suddenly lee heard rustling and yelling coming towards them. _"His people!"_ Lee thought.

"Come on let's go!" Nate yelled as he started up the truck once lee hopped in and slammed his door closed Nate pushed on the gas, speeding away.

Lee looked in the rear view mirror seeing several men around the boy all in panic and disbelief, Lee sighed.

"THAT was intense man, did you see that guy? He was nuts!" Nate said trying to sound justified to Lee.

"Where are we headed?" Lee asked in a depressed tone.

"Back to Georgia man I left a stash of booze up in Athens."

Lee looked out his window and then said: "I'm not going to Athens." Without giving Nate a second glance.

"Why not?" Nate asked displeased.

"I have other plans."

Nate looked at Lee "Look Lee, you're a good guy I can see that but good guys don't live very long in this world, I did what I had to do to survive."Lee began to frown, Nate then stared back to the road "Come on man I thought we were on our way to becoming friends, who's going to chase tale and drink booze with me?"

Lee then spoke "Bullshit."

Nate raised his eyebrow "What's Bullshit?"

"You were going run that boy over and would have enjoyed it, you are a cold blooded killer, Nate, you say you want us to be friends but really you just want someone to witness your acts of cruelty, well ill have no part of it when we get back to Georgia I'm leaving on foot and hope we never cross paths again."

Nate said nothing for almost an hour simply driving calmly without tire, Lee was looking out the window hoping to see Clementine walking with Omid and Christa, probably asking morally debatable questions or telling them the funny things she enjoys to do. _"I'd give anything…"_ Lee thought.

"So what were your plans?" Nate asked casually.

"I'm, uh, looking for someone." Lee said with tired eyes.

"Someone special?" Nate asked in a teasing manner.

Lee smiled "Yeah, someone special." There was silence yet again the day began to fade the road was turning dark, eventually He'd fallen asleep.

_Lee was walking down a narrow road that seemed to go on forever and where you would expect sidewalks and building was just open space, eventually there was a dead end. Lee turned around slowly to walk back but there were people standing before him. The girl at the motor inn who shot herself, Doug, Carly, Larry, Mark, Ben, all his friends, the Saint Johns, Chuck, the stranger who took Clem, the senator the man with the beard, all the people he feels he is responsible for being gone. Only they had injuries that were fatal, heads shot open, bodies deformed broken or missing limbs and so on. The crowd of old friends and enemies were repeatedly saying "Lee…Lee…Lee…Lee…" all in unison walking closer and closer to him every single step was also in unison, step…step…step._

Lee awoke panting, his heart was racing he put his hand on his forehead rubbing sweat off. Nate was still driving staring blankly at the road. "Where are we?" Lee asked,

Nate turned and half smirked. "Well my witness, we are in Georgia."

"Where in Georgia?" Lee asked, trying to forget his night terror.

"Half an hour to Athens." Nate said in a bored tone.

"Nate did you see anyone on our way here?" Lee asked

"Nope just dead guys, you know about a week ago this old guy shot out my tires, took me HOURS to find new ones."

Lee then unzipped his food backpack, "Want something to eat?" Lee asked feeling less resentment for him at the current moment.

"Hell yeah, man."

Lee pulled out a can of Vienna sausages. "I always hated the smell of these." Lee said.

"I always hated whiny little bitches." Nate replied.

Lee pulled out a sausage and handed it to Nate. "Here." Lee said.

"So when are you going to be taking off? We are in Georgia after all."

"Maybe I'll give you my fuel in exchange for a ride to a place in need to get to." Lee proposed.

Nate replied enthusiastically: "Your gas won't get me very far but I don't have much else to do, Alright man deal."

Some several minutes later Lee could see a sign he was all too familiar with, _"You are now entering Athens County"_ Lee felt somewhat uncomfortable in this county.

Nate drove for another 15 minutes until he reached the city of Athens. "Well here we are, I hope nobody took my shit." Nate said

"What I don't count?" Lee said.

"Ha Ha very funny, motherfucker." Nate drove to the City Hall which like the rest of the city seems to have almost no walkers.

Nate parked the truck on top of the curb. "Nice parking job." Lee joked

"Nice stubby arm."

This insulted Lee "I was just joking, asshole."

Nate laughed. "Well so am I, asshole." Nate walked inside the City Hall and came back outside after two minutes. When he returned he was carrying a wooden crate filled with bottles of Rum.

"So we only came here to get shit faced?" Lee questioned, slightly aggravated.

"Why not? Want a drink?" Nate asked without a care in the world.

"No thanks need to stay frosty you know?"

Nate then made an observation and said: "Yeah you're definitely going to stay frosty if you don't change out of those rags, I swear the dead people have better stuff on."

Lee frowned "Well then point me to the nearest not already ransacked clothing store, then."

"Why not try turning around? That store across the street looks almost untouched." Nate suggested.

"Fine, I guess these clothes are kind of worn down." Lee said as he began walking away.

"Hey! Don't dress like a bitch okay?!" Nate yelled

"Yeah sure, whatever." Lee approached the tan colored building which had large windows along the front like most clothing stores would, only one side had been shattered. Lee entered to see racks of shirts knocked over. Pants folded and hung on the walls, shoe boxes lining the back of the store, sun glasses near the check-out counter and a section of hats.

"Guess I'll look for a shirt first." Lee noticed a knocked down rack of shirts, he grabbed it by the center and slightly struggled to pick the rack up off the floor. There were mostly T-shirts on the rack. Lee chose a Plain white T-shirt. "Okay now maybe there are some jackets around here? It's going to get cold." Lee put his selection in a cardboard box he found lying next to the rack. He approached a rack that appeared to have many assorted jackets. There were hooded sweatshirt's, ski jackets, sleeveless jackets and leather jackets.

Lee eyed the leather jackets. "Looks like a walker won't be able to bite through any of these." Lee inferred, as he took a black jacket off the rack and approached the cardboard box he left by the other rack. "Shirt and jacket, check." Lee said as he dropped the jacket inside the box and made his way towards the pants section. There were cargo shorts and pants, skinny, jeans regular jeans and skirts. Lee grabbed a regular pair of Navy blue jeans and placed them in the box with the other clothes.

Lee then walked towards the hats section. Most of the hats were just many different assorted colors there was one that said "Georgia" none of the hats seemed to interest Lee. "Do I really need a hat?" Lee thought as he picked up the box of clothes and made his way to the changing room.

As lee came out of the changing room and looked in the mirror, he eyed the left sleeve "I should probably cut that off." He said sighing, when he turned to the entrance of the store he could see several walkers approaching Nate's truck. Nate had been drinking and had fallen asleep inside the truck. "Damn it, Nate" Lee whispered to himself. "I need to find something to deal with those walkers, I don't have enough ammo and the sound would only draw more of them." Lee looked around the store for several seconds until he knocked over an empty clothing rack and used his foot to keep it on the ground while using his arm to bend it back and forth, after a few bends it came off.

Lee ran towards the truck and yelled "HEY OVER HERE!" All nine walkers turned their attention to him. Lee swung and hit the closest walker over the head with the bent part of the rack, killing it instantly. Lee was backing away as they pursued him, another lunged at him and ran itself into the rack getting penetrated through the eye, dying and getting Lee's weapon stuck in the process. Lee kept on backing up while the seven remaining walkers were still on him, growling furiously.

Lee saw a wooden cane similar to his father's only with a metal handle in the hand of a deceased old man across the street. "That should work." He thought as he ran towards it. When he grabbed it the small old man sprang up and tried biting Lees arm but the leather jacket prevented the bite. "Shit!" Lee yelled, backing away a few feet then running up to the old man and smashing his head in with a firm stomp. Before he knew it the rest of the walkers were inches away.

He managed to dispatch three of the remaining seven but he broke the cane in half, he began running in the opposite direction carrying the end which had no handle. Lee saw a gated ally between two buildings he hopped the locked gate. Before he knew it the four walkers were already piled on the fence trying to grab at him, arms outstretched. Lee then stabbed each of the walkers in the eye one by one with the broken cane half. When he stabbed the last one he left the cane half in the eye of the walker. "Damn." Lee said as he was catching his breath.

Lee made his way back to the truck to see Nate was still unconscious with an empty bottle in his hand. Lee shook his head and opened the door to the driver's side of the truck. Nate was lying against the passenger's side. Lee put Nate's seat belt on him and started up the truck, He drove for twenty minutes and stopped at an apartment. Lee sighed and looked at the building next to him, it was his former home and the home of his ex-wife.

It was the place where his former life ended. "I remember the early mornings, waking up and getting ready for work, Making coffee, getting dressed, driving to work, alone for days." Lee said with sorrow. "I wanted a family but that wasn't my choice, I shouldn't have tried pressuring her into that." Lee started up the truck. "Clementine is out there somewhere, she's the only family I have left."

Lee drove out of Athens past Macon and stopped 1365 Macedonia road in the Oconee natural forest after around 20 minutes of driving. Lee looked at Nate still sleeping. "Asshole." Lee thought as he opened the glove compartment. Inside were a bag of coke, some razors for shaving, and a pocket knife, Lee grabbed the pocket knife and cut the lower left arm of his jacket off. Lee sighed and said: "Don't have an arm don't need a sleeve." Lee looked at the bloody bandage that kept his arm from bleeding out back in Savannah "Need to change that when I get the chance."

Nate's truck was close to empty on fuel, Lee left a few cans of food for Nate and then got out of the truck. As Lee was walking towards the woods he heard Nate begin to wake up but kept on walking.

"Lee, man hold up!" Nate called.

Lee stopped walking and turned to look at him. "What is it?"

"Where you headed?" Nate asked.

Lee took a moment to answer "To find my family."

"Good luck man but you're never going to find them." Nate told him with a scoff.

"Thanks for the ride." Lee said, ignoring what Nate said, determined in his objective.

Lee walked into the woods, alone.


	3. Rain and leaves

Lee had been walking through the woods for some several hours. It was cold, dark, and raining _"So this was Christa's plan? to be out in the woods with no shelter."_ Lee thought as he continued walking for what felt like an eternity. Lee tripped on an exposed root and nearly fell but managed to keep his footing. _"This is hopeless, if i could just remember if Christa said where she was going."_ He said aloud while wiping water off his face.

Lee was truly alone, not even a walker in sight. He walked on for several minutes, hope beginning to fade. He thought about the boy in the road, even though he tried to rob him Lee made a promise that everything would be okay. He thought about his family and how he wasn't there when they needed him. He thought about his wife and how he made her feel. And most of all he thought about Clementine, Lee sighed.

After another couple of minutes Lee found a small camp that seemed to be abandoned. There were bits of what appeared to be meth lining the ground around him, also a pair of combat boots resting on a log and some fishing line left by what used to be a log fire. _"Well maybe the people who used to_ be _here won't come after me for revenge if I take some stuff."_ Lee joked to himself, as he grabbed the fishing line and put it in his backpack.

Lee placed his backpack down next to the log and sat down, stretching his legs he said: "Feels good to finally be off my feet." Lee turned to look at the pair of black combat boots sitting next to him. _"Steel toed, could come in handy."_ Lee began taking off his left shoe once it was off he looked around to see if any walkers were around, none so far.

Lee then removed his right shoe, once they were both off he tossed them on to the small charred log in front of him. He then grabbed one of the combat boots next to him and began to put it on, then the other one. The next part felt like a challenge, tying the boots. He put his leg in his lap and used his teeth to hold one of the laces eventually he managed to tie his left boot. He repeated the process with the other boot. Once he finished tying he rolled his jeans over the boots, then eyed his left sleeve, "Guess I should sew this closed."

Lee pulled out the pocket knife he took from Nate. Then he placed the knife on the log, after he did this he pulled his backpack closer and got out the fishing line he found from earlier, placing it next to the knife. He then unzipped and took off his jacket placing the shorter sleeve on the log. He grabbed the knife and placed the tip against the leather sleeve rotating it to cut holes for sewing. In minutes he made several holes along the sleeve then put his knife back into his pocket.

He placed some of the fishing line through each hole and then tied it at the center, "Well that should keep it cleaner I suppose." Lee said while examining his tailor work. Suddenly Lee could hear men approaching, laughing. He quickly grabbed his backpack and ran to the bushes opposite to where he was sitting.

A moment later there were three men who had returned to their camp, one was carrying a rifle, the other was carrying a stick with four fish on it, and the last was holding a fishing pole and he wasn't wearing any shoes… Lee began slowly backing away from the camp hoping they wouldn't notice that anything was missing.

One of the men looked around and said: "Alright Jim where the fuck did you put my boots?"

Jim replied: "Fuck off Troy I didn't take your boots."

Troy frowned "I know you did something with them! Boots don't just walk away!"

The third man spoke up: "Boy, are you really going to start hollering over some fucking combat boots?"

Troy then turned to the third man who was holding the rifle. "Well, Steve how do I know you didn't take em, huh?" Troy accused.

Jim then said: "Maybe because there is a guy right over there trying to sneak away? Maybe that's a possibility?"

Troy turned to look, Lee was already running. "Nice job couldn't you have just shot him instead of being a smartass?" Troy and the others began running after him. "Just shoot him, Steve!" Troy demanded.

_"Oh fuck!"_ Lee said to himself as he heard a shot fired behind, him after seconds of running he had managed to get out of their sight so he hid behind a tree. The three men stopped running ten feet away from where Lee was hiding.

"Are we really gonna kill this guy over a dumb pair of boots?" Jim asked

"Nobody steals from me! And we wouldn't even be doing this if you hadn't let him know that you saw him! Let's split up, he couldn't have gone far." Troy ordered.

Jim and Steve started in different directions. Lee peaked around the trunk of the tree to see Troy's back was turned, he had a camouflage jacket on and he was holding a 9mm pistol in his hand. Lee began to approach him from behind taking care with every step. When he was a mere three feet away he had accidentally stepped on a twig, Troy spun around but Lee quickly grabbed his gun but still Troy managed to fire the gun hitting a tree, Lee then proceeded to head-butt Troy in the nose

"Oh fucking shit!" Troy yelled grabbing his nose, Lee then hit Troy with the butt of the gun knocking him out cold.

Jim and Steve began running back yelling "Troy did you find him?!"

Lee began running away without looking back. As he ran there were several walkers ahead of him Lee aimed Troy's gun but reconsidered, "If I fire this those guy are going to come running this way." Lee put Troy's gun into his backpack and began running to the left of the incoming walkers. Once Lee was sure he was far enough he started walking, Lee began gasping to catch his breath then he said to himself: "I really hope Clementine isn't having it as bad as I am."

Lee kept on walking, it was still raining but over time it started to get worse, "I need to find a safe place to sleep." He then began surveying his surroundings, he looked up at the trees and said: "No way am I climbing one of those." He looked into the distance, "Nothing but trees." He then noticed a fallen tree to his right. "That might work." He said as he walked towards it.

He took off his backpack and threw it inside the hollow trunk of the tree. Then he crawled inside after it then rolled onto his back and stared at the bark above him. "What a day." He said before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep…

_Lee was sitting on his bed, staring out of the window as the sun was setting. He eyed the RV Kenny was working on occasionally punching it in frustration. He put his head in his hands trying to forget about what happened with the Saint Johns. His door was open, Lily walked by stopping to look at him but it wasn't the usual stare she gave everyone, she had a sad look on her face as though all happiness and hope had vanished from her. She kept walking neither of them uttered a word. Lee slouched over and stared at the ground, stricken with grief. room, lightly knocking on the door frame. Someone began knocking on the door frame. _

_"Are you okay?" Clementine asked. _

_Lee smiled at her and said: "Yeah I'm okay." _

_Clementine walked over to Lee and sat next to him leaning on him. "Lee I'm worried." Clem stated with sad eyes. _

_"Why?" Lee replied. _

_She looked up at him, "Lily is really sad." _

_Lee looked at Kenny working on the RV through the window, "Losing someone you love is never easy, it's the saddest thing in the world..." Lee said. She continued to look at him with sad eyes. "It'll take some time but she will be okay." Lee assured. _

_Clementine looked towards the ground, "I hope so."_

Lee woke up several hours later, he first opened his eyes and looked at the opening he crawled in from. He grabbed his backpack and began scooting his way out with his legs. Once he was out he stretched and put on his backpack. He turned around to begin walking but stopped dead in his tracks and began walking back slowly. Two wolves were slowly advancing towards him he slowly pulled out his pocket knife. Still backing away he said in a calming voice: "Easy now, I'm not going to hurt you."

The wolves continued in his direction growling angrily at Lee. He kept backing away from the two menacing wolves before him. The wolves stopped growling and walking towards him, Lee exhaled in relief. Suddenly they dashed at him, Lees eyes widened. One of the wolves jumped at him Lee stabbed the wolf turning with its momentum losing the knife and landing on his knees. The second wolf bit down on his boot dragging him back a few feet, then the wolf jumped on his back biting at the upper part of his jacket. Lee flipped over on his side and elbowed the wolf several times in the head. After several hits the wolf backed off, Lee got back on his feet while the wolf lunged at him again this time Lee kicked the wolf in the jaw then stomped its head into the ground.

Lee stared at the whimpering struggling wolf whose neck was being firmly stepped on to avoid its escape. Lee's facial expression changed from fearful instinct to sympathy. Lee lifted his leg, instantly the wolf ran off, whimpering. Lee stared at the wolf as it ran away, eventually it was out of his sight.

Lee approached the body of the dead wolf and bent down and said: "I'm sorry." He pulled his knife out of its neck then wiped it on his jeans. Then closed it and placed it back in his pocket. He then grabbed his backpack off the ground, put it on and began walking randomly through the forest. "I probably should find some maps to organize where I have been." Lee inferred while walking through the now visible forest.

He heard chirping coming from above, he looked up seeing a brown thrasher watching its babies start to hatch, Lee smiled and kept walking. The woods were much more beautiful during the day. Lee, for once in a long while didn't feel tense. However his moment of peace was diminished when he heard a set of gunshots coming from the north-west of where he was standing. "I probably shouldn't." Lee said trying to forget about it.

However he heard two more gunshots and summoned up the strength to run in the direction of the shots. After 45 seconds of running he could see figures ahead. When he was close enough to see it was the three men he had been chased by the previous day, they had killed two men and had guns on a woman and a small girl. Troy was beating a man senselessly, the woman and the girl's eyes filled with tears as they yelled out to Troy to show mercy.

"JUST STOP! PLEASE!" the woman yelled.

"DADDY!" the young girl yelled as she ran towards him. Jim grabbed the girl and put his hand on her head to snap her neck. The parents had a look of sheer horror

"NO, NO JUST LEAVE HER!" the father called before being pummeled with yet another hit to the face.

Lee had seen enough, he pulled out his snub nosed revolver aimed and fired. His first shot hit Jim in the back of the skull instantly killing him. The girl ran to her mom, Troy and Steve turned and fired several shots at Lee however he had already ran to cover behind a tree.

The girl and her mother ran to safety some couple of yards away, the man who was being beaten was still on the ground. Lee peeked around the tree only to have three more shots fired at him. He peaked out the other side only a single shot was fired, a rifle. Lee realized that one of them has run out of ammo and their only gun with any ammo was a bolt action rifle.

_"Okay I just got to get him to shoot one more time."_ Lee peaked out the side and yet another shot was fired after it did Lee jumped out of cover and shot and killed Steve with expert precision. He drew on Troy who had made a desperate attempt to survive by pulling a knife out and taking the man he has beaten hostage.

Troy stared at Lee with a serious look and said: "Yeah, party's over pal hand over the gun or I slit his throat."

Lee then replied "Will you let him go?" Troy didn't answer his question,

"Just do as I say."

Lee frowned, "Fine." Lee began to slowly walk towards Troy with his revolver turned facing himself when he was a mere foot away Troy dropped the man and reached for the gun Lee was bringing to him. Once the man was out of the way of harm in the blink of an eye Lee flipped the revolver and shot Troy's hand, taking flesh off the side of his hand.

"AHHHHH! FUCK!" Troy yelled instantly dropping the knife and grabbed his hand in pain.

Lee aimed the gun at Troy's face and gave him a grim look.

Troy looked at him in fear, "P-Please man don't kill me! I'm too young to die!" Lee glared at him angrily.

"YOU'RE too young to die? What about that girl over there? Is she too young to die too?"

Troy started backing away trying to keep his hand from bleeding. "I'm sorry man I-I really am! Just let me live, ill change!" Troy pleaded.

"Get out of here." Lee ordered, while putting away his revolver.

Troy began running away holding his hand. Once he was gone the beaten man stumbled to his feet, his family came running with tears of joy,

"Dad!" the young girl with brown hair jumped into her dads arms both smiling and crying.

"My girl! I thought I had lost you!" Lee smiled, glad he had ran towards the gunshots. The mother of the girl walked towards Lee hands over her mouth crying

"Thank you, sir, thank you so much." Lee looked at her with a smile.

"Don't mention it." The father got to his feet, holding hands with his daughter and wife he walked towards Lee and outstretched his hand.

The two shook hands, "Names Gerry." The beaten man said.

"Lee"

"And I'm Linda." The woman said.

"Nice to meet you all." Lee said with a smile. The girl walked up to Lee, for a second they stared at each other.

"Hey there." Lee said, smiling.

The girl hugged him and said: "Thank you for saving my daddy." She said looking up at him.

"You're welcome." He replied, she then went to stand beside her mother. Lee looked at the bodies of the two people who were dead before he arrived.

"Friends of yours?" Lee asked.

"We met these two a few days ago, they were good people." Gerry said with a sad look on his bruised face. "They shared food with us when they barely had enough for themselves."

"What were their names?" Lee asked.

"Quintus and Jacob." Lee felt as though he had heard the name Quintus before.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Lee said.

The man turned to his family. "At least they are okay, I can't tell you how grateful I am."

Lee looked at him and asked: "Have you met anyone named Christa, Omid or Clementine?"

Gerry wiped his face and said: "Nope, sorry can't say that I have."

Lee looked at the family of brunets he had saved. "So what's your family's next move?" Lee asked.

"I'm not sure." He replied. "Would it be fine if we came with you? I know you have already done so much but I'm not in any condition to protect my family and you seem to be able to handle yourself."

Lee looked at him and said: "Sounds like a plan, we should probably get moving, walkers might have heard those shots."

"You're right let's move." Gerry agreed.

"I found a good spot to pitch camp and I think I have an idea for how to keep up safe." Lee said while walking in the direction of the area he had slept at the night before. As they were walking the girl walked up beside him, and stared at his missing arm.

"What happened to your arm?" She asked.

Lee turned and with a half smirk he said: "You never told me your name."

"Lily." She said.

"Lily huh? I had an uh friend named Lily once." Lee said.

"What happened to her?" she asked.

"She left the group I was in, I don't know where she is now." He said.

"Okay." She said looking at his missing arm, more interested in it.

"I lost my arm protecting someone." Lee stated.

"Who were you protecting?" She asked curiously.

Lee looked ahead and with a smile he said: "My family."

She frowned "But who?"

Lee looked at her and asked: "How old are you?" She replied

"seven."

He smiled. "Cool."

She kept staring at him while they were walking. "You didn't answer my question." She demanded. Lee felt a feeling of déjà vu, which brought him sadness.

Lee sighed and said: "When all this started I met a girl a little older than you." She listened intently. "Her name was Clementine." Lily looked confused.

"Then how is she family?"

Lee lifted an eyebrow and with a smile he said: "what?"

"You said she was your family but you're not related, are you?"

Lee thought about what she said for a moment and turned and said: "Sometimes it takes more than blood to be a family." Lily considered this.

Then Gerry spoke up, "Getting to know each other?"

Lily turned and said: "Yep."

Lee saw the tree trunk from the night before. "Here we are." The parents looked confused.

"How is this a good spot, Lee?" Linda asked

"One of you and the girl can sleep in the tree trunk, less risk if something finds us." Lee explained.

"So what about you and me?" Gerry asked letting it be clear that he wanted Linda and Lily to sleep in the trunk.

"I have fishing wire which I can tie around these trees and then we could can tie something to the wire to let us know if walkers show up."

Gerry liked this idea, "Okay sounds good." Lee dropped his backpack and unzipped it, he then dug around for the fishing wire.

Linda noticed that Lee had some canned food. "Lee um I was wondering…"

Lee smirked and said: "You guys want some food?"

"If that's okay with you of course." Lee pulled out a can of peaches, but he noticed the girl on the can looked like clementine, he sighed.

"Oh um I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

Lee interjected: "No it's not that, I'm just a little tired is all." Lee placed the can down and pulled out his pocket knife. "This knife probably isn't all that clean." Lee told them.

Linda pulled out a green pocket knife of her own. "I haven't had to use this yet." She told him while handing it to him.

Lee placed the can on the ground, he then stabbed the top of the can of peaches in four different places then pulled the lid back. "Here." Lee handed the knife then the can to Linda.

"Thank you, Lee." Linda handed a sliced peach to Lily.

"I wonder if daddy is okay, his face looks hurt."

Lee turned to look at Gerry. "You okay man?"

Gerry was wiping his face with a blue cloth now looking more like dark purple ask he continued wiping. "That guy back there must have got me pretty good." Gerry assumed.

Lee got closer to examine him. "Your cheek and eye are swollen to hell." Lee said.

Gerry looked at him and said: "I'll be fine, what was your idea for keeping us safe?"

"Oh yeah the fishing wire." Lee said while walking over to his backpack he left with Linda and Lily.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked

"Lily, don't bother Lee okay?" Linda ordered.

"It's alright Linda." Lee said. Lily turned to her mother and stuck her tongue out at her then walked up beside Lee. "I'm going to tie something around these trees so we will know if any monsters are around." Lee told her.

"Can I help?" Lily asked.

"Sure, you can go pick the brushes off that tree and bring them here for hanging that would help me out a lot." Lee said with a smile. Lily ran towards the tree next to Gerry and snapped off some brushes.

Lee grabbed the fishing wire out from his backpack, "Tying isn't so easy nowadays." Lee said. Linda approached and took the wire and tied it to the tree closest to the fallen tree he had slept in, "Thanks Linda."

"Sure thing, Lee."

Lee took the wire then began making his way to the next tree walking around it then ducking over his line, he repeated this process of taking a lap around each tree. After 2 minutes he had finished, (nearly running out of line) he reached the first tree that Linda had tied.

"Let me get that for you, Lee." Linda offered.

Lee handed her the wire roll, she began tying it around the tree. The string wnet around maybe seven trees, plenty of space for their camp.

"Hey Lee I got all the bits of brush off that tree for you." Lily told him, smiling.

"Thanks, Lily." Lee said. while approaching the pile she made. He picked up one and hung it on the line. Lily handed him another one, this procedure continued until the line had no more room for bits of brush.

"Are we done?" Lily asked.

"Yep all done you can go sit with your mom now if you want to."

"What happened to Clementine?" Lily asked, catching him off guard.

"Nothing." Lee replied hoping she would drop the subject.

"Then where is she?" Lily asked, Lee felt suddenly felt saddened.

"We thought what happened with my arm was going to kill me, so I made her leave me."

"So who took your arm away?" Lily asked. Lee stared at his left sleeve and frowned.

"A monster." He said.

"What happened to the monster?" Lily asked.

"He's gone now." Lee told her. Lily walked to her mother without commenting on what Lee told her.

Several hours later, Lee was sitting in front of the fire he made, staring intently. Linda, Gerry, and Lily were finishing off the peaches he gave them. The afternoon was fading, crickets could be heard.

"Mom mosquitoes are biting me." Lily complained.

Linda yawned and said: "Goodnight boys."

Gerry kissed his wife and daughter and said: "Goodnight girls." Lily and Linda crawled into the tree. Lee was still lost in thought.

Gerry looked at Lee unsure and said: "Lee you alright, buddy?"

Lee flinched and looked at him. "Yeah I'm fine." Lee replied.

"I have been listening to the things you and Lily have been discussing."

Lee raised an eyebrow and said: "Okay."

Gerry sighed and said: "It's a long shot you know, the chances are slim that you will-"

Lee frowned and interrupted him. "Any chance is good enough for me."

Gerry gave up. "Thank you for saving my family, it was the most selfless, courageous, thing I have ever seen anyone do in my entire life."

Lee half smiled and with tired eyes he replied: "I honestly don't know what sent me in that direction."

Gerry rubbed his chin and said: "Maybe you thought it was that little girl, um, Clementine in trouble."

Lee thought about it. "Maybe your right." Both men on opposite sides of the fire fell asleep, After three hours, Lee heard the leaves rustling.


	4. Out of the woods

Lee slowly opened his eyes to see what (if anything) was making the noise. Half asleep Lee rubbed one of his eyes and looked at the very much lit fire that appeared to have been given more wood by probably Gerry. Lee saw nobody but Gerry in their camp so he shrugged and laid back down. Suddenly Lee heard a scream coming from the fallen tree where the girls were sleeping. Instantly Lee got up and sprinted in their direction, once he got to the tree he saw the lower half of a walker sticking out of the tree.

"Hold on!" Lee screamed as he pulled the walker out of the tree, one handed. The walker grabbed his ankle and tried biting at his leg but he kicked it with his other boot, then proceeded to repeatedly stomp at the walkers head, yelling while doing so, eventually there was no face left to be seen from the walker. "Man… are you girls alright?" Lee said turning to look at the camp.

Gerry was checking his daughter up and down for any bite marks. "They're fine." Gerry said with a cold tone.

"Why did you relight the fire? I kept it low for a reason." Lee asked angrily, Gerry didn't reply.

Then Linda spoke up: "We need to get the hell out of these forests, there's no food, we can't light fires, apparently, and we have no shelter from walkers."

Lee was about to reply but Gerry spoke up, "Lee I know what you're going to say and your wrong, your little girl isn't here, if she is still alive she probably found one of those big camps to join up with, nobody would stay in any of these forests for long."

Lee considered this. "Where do you guys want to go?"

Linda looked to Gerry then looked back at Lee. "My sister went to join up with a camp here in Georgia."

"This place was worth it?" Lee said with doubt.

"Its secure and more and more people are popping up there apparently." Linda said.

"Well, then why didn't you guys go there with her?" Lee asked, skeptical about the whole idea.

"We went looking for my dad in Athens." Linda told him.

Lee thought about the idea. "Alright fine let's get moving north to Athens, maybe we can find a car to get us moving faster." Lee said looking at Gerry unsure.

Lily looked very nervous, "Mommy can we just go home?"

Linda sighed and looked at her daughter with tired eyes then got down to her level putting her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "No, baby it isn't safe there anymore."

Lee felt guilty, as though he endangered this family. "I'm ready, whenever you guys are."

Gerry glared at him and then softened his expression. "Sure, we're ready to go."

With that Lee began walking in the direction of the road he left Nate on, the family began following. After an hour of walking, with Lee still leading the small group, Lily walked up beside Lee and stared up at him curiously, saying nothing.

Lee turned and raised his brow with a small smile."Hey there."

"Do you miss your arm?" Lily asked.

Lee took a moment to reply. "All the time." he said in a soft-spoken manner.

"Is it harder to do things with only one arm?" Lily asked quietly.

Lee looked ahead and said calmly: "Life is a little harder with only one arm, I can't tie my shoes very well, I can't carry two things, and I probably won't be learning any chords on the guitar either."

Lily giggled at that. Lee smiled and continued: "Life is even harder when you're not with your family, I cut it off so I could help the only person who never gave up on me when times were tough."

Lily smiled and said: "That's really nice of you."

Lee looked at his arm and smiled finding something positive in a tragic loss. "Yeah." After another few hours they reached the road, finally out of the woods they were in direct sunlight,

"Okay well I don't see any cars anywhere." Lee said, looking into the direction of Athens city.

"Well how about a truck?" Nate called.

_"Not this guy again."_ Lee thought.

"Hello Sir! Could you give us a ride into Athens?" Linda asked.

Lee interjected: "No, no we'll be fine, we just have to keep walking that way."

Nate laughed and said: "Well, Lee you made some friends! hop in everyone!" Nobody moved, Gerry and Linda were unsure of the past Lee had with this man they had just met. "Lee, just get in the damn truck." Nate said, annoyed.

Gerry looked at Lee and said: "Lee it's safer to drive than to walk we have to accept that ride."

Lee kept staring at Nate and said: "Fine." As they approached the truck Lee whispered: "You guys sit in the back." Gerry nodded and as they reached the truck Lily, Linda, and Gerry hopped in the back Lee threw his backpack in the back and got in the passenger's seat.

"So I guess I was right, huh? Lee" Nate stated, feeling victorious.

"We left for their own safety." Lee said, unconcerned while slamming the truck door closed.

"Yeah whatever, man." Nate said while picking his nose. Lee turned to check on the family then looked straight ahead. "What is it with you people? Always so fucking rude, just accept a ride when it comes your way." Nate complained.

Lee kept staring but he frowned and said: "You people?"

"Yeah, I think you know what I mean." Nate said without rethinking it.

Lee never gave him a look. "Fuck you, Nate."

Nate frowned. "Fuck you, Lee there was no way that guy was going to let up." Lee kept looking ahead.

"I don't blame you for that, I had a similar experience with a crazy woman in the woods, but were you really going to run that kid over? Is that a thing you do normally?"

"Lee what is this shit? You going to give me a talk about God or some shit?" Nate said, agitated.

Lee turned to him and said: "Let's just leave the past in the past."

Nate half grinned, "About fucking time." Nate looked in his rear-view mirror to glance at the small family, "So what's their story?"

Lee began: "I heard gunshots and went running towards them, found three guys attacking them."

Nate scoffed "Yeah I see, so you were the hero of the day right?"

Lee looked out at the trees beside him and continued: "Anyway, they told me that they were looking for someone in Athens and that there is a large camp somewhere here in Georgia that's apparently pretty secure."

Nate looked at his steering wheel, the fabric was wearing off. "That's not very descriptive of them, is it?" Lee shrugged and looked ahead seeing a few walkers here and there. Nate rolled his window down and stuck his head out, "HEY! WHATS YOUR CAMP CALLED!?"

Linda answered: "HOWE'S!"

Nate turned and grinned "see that? That's something you need to know."

Lee rolled his eyes, "Okay I'll give you that one."

"So why are you guys going to Athens?" Nate asked.

"We are going to find a suitable car to travel in." Lee said.

Nate looked at Lee with a brow raised, "You know what you're sitting in right?"

Lee felt unsure, "So you want to go to Howe's with us?"

Nate began picking at his index finger with his thumb, "Maybe there are some very pretty ladies there for us."

Lee ignored that, and asked: "So you managed to find some gas in these two days?"

Nate looked at the gas needle, "Half full, I found something to do while you went running through a random forest looking for random people."

Lee opened the glove compartment, "Got any maps in here?"

Nate kept his eye on the road and said: "I did have a nice pocket knife in there, wonder who took that…"

Lee pulled out Nate's pocket knife. "Here." Lee dropped it in the glove compartment and closed it.

Nate then in a sarcastic tone said: "Huh? Lee how could you!? I trusted you!"

Lee shook his head in disbelief of this mans lack of maturity. "Well, you know I did leave a good amount of food here for you."

Nate replied: "Whatever, tasted like rat shit anyway." Lee didn't reply. "So uh why are we heading to Athens again? Needed a 'ride'?"

"We need a map so we know where the camp is as I already pointed out." Lee said. Nate slammed on his brakes.

Gerry nearly fell out. "Whoa! What's going on up there?" Gerry asked.

Nate rolled down his window and said: "Nothing just sit tight for a minute, but uh could the Lady come here for a sec?"

Lee frowned. "What the fuck, Nate?"

"Nothing I've got a map, jackass." Nate replied while watching Linda approach the driver's side of the truck.

"Everything okay, guys?" Linda asked.

"Mmm, well sweet cheeks Lee has informed me that we are going to Athens for a map."

"Yes, that's uh right…" Linda replied hesitantly, Nate pulled out a map from under his seat and handed it to her.

"So where would Howe's be at?"

Linda opened the map and examined it. "Right here." She pointed.

"On Perry highway near fort valley… Lee we're going the wrong way, okay hop back in, sugar tits oh and thanks for the help." Linda rolled her eyes and made her way to the back.

"Asshole." She said under her breath.

Lee shook his head. Nate started up the truck and began turning the truck around. "So, Nate what was your job before the plague?"

Nate ignored his irrelevant question. "So you think your family might have made their way over to this camp?"

Lee looked towards the horizon, there was a large dark cloud ahead. "I don't know." Lee said half paying attention. "Nate would you do me a favor?" Lee asked, Nate kept looking ahead.

"Whaaaat?" Nate asked, agitated.

"Could you pull over, slowly this time and let me swap seats with them?"

Nate looked at him. "Why?"

Lee looked at Lily. "It's going to rain in a little while, don't want all of them in the back."

Nate slowly pushed the brakes. "Go on, Mr. Witness." Nate mocked.

Lee opened his door and stepped out. "So one of you and Lily should sit in the front, it's going to rain pretty soon."

Linda automatically spoke up. "Gerry you go up front, I don't want those gashes on your face to get much rain." Gerry nodded and carried Lily out of the back, Lee hopped in the back. When Gerry slammed the door shut they sped off. After a few minutes Linda spoke up over the sound of wind rushing by their ears "Not so much fun in the back huh?"

"It's a little chilly with the speed we're going." Lee replied.

"Yeah well get used to it, winter starts next month."

"Well, we should find Lily a nice jacket."

Linda smiled at what Lee said. "You two seem to be getting along pretty well."

Lee looked beside him to check on them, Lily was resting on her dad while he rambled on to Nate about something, Nate looked very bored. "She's always very straight forward all the time." Lee inferred.

"You can blame that on Gerry." Lee laughed.

Linda continued. "I bet she reminds you of that Clementine you two keep talking about."

Lee looked saddened by that comment. "I don't know."

"Oh uh I'm sorry Lee I didn't mean to upset you."

Lee looked at her and said: "You remind me of a friend of mine."

"Oh? Who?" she asked.

"A woman named Christa, she was always letting her boyfriend go first."

Linda laughed. "You think I baby Gerry?"

Lee smirked. "Not, 'babying' exactly."

She continued laughing, but the humor ended when they began feeling drops of water hit them. "Well, here comes the rain." Linda said. A moment later the rain began falling heavily, Nate sped up a bit, occasionally roughly turning to dodge a car or a walker.

Lee turned to Linda to see all her hair was soaked and sticking to her face. "Like my hair?" Linda joked.

"Sure don't." Lee replied, Linda kicked him and she continued laughing despite the weather conditions. Half an hour later Nate turned down an intersection, Howe's warehouse was well in sight. "Well that's got to be it." Lee inferred. Nate drove into the empty parking lot and stopped to examine the place.

"WELL? WHERE ARE THE SURVIVORS?!" Nate yelled to Lee through the rain. Suddenly a woman called from the roof of the warehouse.

"GO AROUND BACK!" Nate drove to the back of Howe's to see one open port where moving vans would normally back goods into the store. At the entrance were two people, a younger man maybe mid-twenties with brown hair and a machete strapped to his back, the other was an older man maybe late forties with a large fur jacket on. Nate, Gerry and Lily got out of the truck and began walking towards the two people, Lee and Linda followed not far behind.

"Hello everyone, I'm Luke and this is Bill." The younger man said.

Bill spoke up "Welcome, please don't cause any trouble and contribute as best you can, Luke will show you the place, I need to take care of some things."

Luke rolled his eyes as Bill walked towards his office. "So what are your names?"

Lee stepped forward "Name's Lee, this is Gerry and his wife Linda and their daughter Lily."

Nate frowned and said. "And I'm Nate, thanks for asking."

Luke smiled. "Well it's very good to meet you all, let me show you the place." Luke walked towards the empty isles with orange tents put up inside for privacy. "This is where most people sleep." Luke said while leading the group.

"Wow, there are a lot of people here." Lily said. "

Yup Bill has our scouting parties search through Georgia for other survivors and some, like you people just show up." Luke explained.

A Pakistani man approached Luke holding a radio. "Hey Luke I got your radio working try not to drop it again will you?" the man said.

"Thanks Reggie, hey have you seen Carlos anywhere?" Luke asked.

"Oh I think he's checking up on Stewart in the armory." Reggie replied

"Okay, see you later, Reggie."

Reggie turned his attention to Lee and the others as they followed Luke. "Good to see some new faces, we can get better aquatinted later I hope." Reggie told them.

"Looking forward to it." Gerry said.

"Okay that's Reggie, he likes to make small talk but he's a cool guy." Luke said.

"Do you know where I might find my sister, Luke?" Linda asked.

Luke turned slightly while leading them. "You want to check in with Rebecca, she is usually up in Bill's office making announcements and what not."

The intercom screeched on. "_Attention, Bill requires extra hands for tomorrow's scavenging tomorrow_."

Luke laughed. "That's her, she keeps the clip board of all the new people, so you'll be seeing her anyway."

Lee looked around hoping to see Clem. The group approached a red door. "Here is the armory, now if I were you id just not poke around unless you have permission from Bill, he can be difficult to reason with."

Nate spoke up. "Why? Is that where he keeps all the booze?"

Luke rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, anyway lets meet Carlos, he is our doctor." Luke opened the Armory door to see Carlos stitching an over weighted bearded Caucasian man's shoulder.

"Gaaah fuuuck!" Stewart yelped in agony.

"Calm down and stop squirming." Carlos said.

"Hey Carlos! Meet-"

"Not now, Luke." Carlos ordered.

Luke shrugged, "Okay um he's the doctor.

Rebecca is up in carver's office the stairs to his office are over there in the corner opposite to us, I'll let you guys get to know the place for a bit." Luke said.

"Thanks for showing us around." Lee said.

"No problem." Luke said as he walked away.

"We should go check in with Rebecca, see if your sister is still here." Lee said.

"I agree, don't want to skip procedure and get kicked out." Gerry said.

"Mommy I'm hungry." Lily said as she tugged on her mother's blue shirt.

"We'll go get something to eat after we finish up with this Rebecca lady." With that said they all began making their way up the stairs to the office. At the top of the stairs was a large black man with glasses.

"Okay, Beck I'll go take care of it." He said as he made his way down the stairs quickly saying: "Hey guys." As he kept rushing. Lee entered the office with the others following seeing a woman shuffling papers next to what appeared to be controls for the microphone she was using previously.

"Guess you're the new people." Rebecca said while picking up a clipboard and approaching the group.

"Yeah we-" Lee said before being cut off.

"Write your names here please." She ordered.

Lee took the clipboard placed it against the desk and wrote his full name then handed it to Gerry he wrote his families names and handed it to Nate who did the same then handed it back to Rebecca saying: "Here, beautiful."

She examined it and handed it back. "Mr. Everett please mention your disability please."

Lee frowned and wrote 'Missing arm.' Rebecca took the clipboard and placed it on the desk. "Mr. and Mrs. Davis do either of you or your daughter have any medical issues?"

They looked at each other and said: "No mam."

"And you sir?" She said turning to Nate.

"Nope." He said, smiling and still intently eyeing her.

"Alright everybody, eventually Bill will give you jobs to do, nothing too hard really, he just wants to make sure everyone contributes evenly."

Lee nodded. "I could help with that scavenging job he's got going on tomorrow."

Rebecca ignored that. "Any other questions?"

Linda spoke up: "Is there a girl named Taylor here?"

Rebecca picked up the clipboard and flipped through it and found the name Taylor Davis. "Well, baby, we had a Taylor Davis a month ago but it says she is deceased."

Lee looked to Linda whose eyes were wide with shock. "Linda are you okay?" Lee asked. When he did she began sobbing.

"Come here, Lin." Gerry said trying to comfort her as she cried into his shoulder. Lily walked up to her mother and began rubbing her back.

Lee turned to Rebecca who also felt saddened for the weeping woman before her. "Do you have anyone named Clementine here?" Lee asked.

"Let me check." Rebecca said as she flipped through the clipboard again. "No, sorry." Rebecca said while placing the clipboard down.

Lee turned to see that his group was leaving. "Thanks Rebecca, do you know where I can find Bill?"

Rebecca nodded. "He's on the roof, ask around if you can't find the roof access."

"Thanks again." Lee said while leaving the room. Minutes later Lee found his way up to the roof, there was a gardening room or a greenhouse that appeared to have very few plants, and He could see Bill was talking with a large dark skinned woman. Lee pulled open the door to the green house.

"I need you to find some, under qualified people to work in here, Tavia." Bill told her.

"Can I help you?" Tavia asked Lee.

"Oh I was looking for Bill." Lee told her.

"Well you found him, what do you need?" Bill asked.

"I'd like to help you with your scavenging tomorrow." Lee stated.

"Uh, no offense but I don't think you're qualified for that sort of job." Bill told him.

"Look, I single handedly saved the lives of all those people who arrived with me, I can handle walkers." Lee said staring Bill straight in the eyes.

"Oh is that right? Well can you carry supplies to our trucks?" Bill questioned.

"I can't carry as much as other people can but is that really why you need more hands for this job? Besides if I die out there that's just one less mouth to feed, right?"

Tavia interjected. "Why do you want to go with us so badly anyway?"

Lee turned to her and said: "I came here looking for my family, maybe if I go on runs with you guys I might have a better chance of finding them."

Tavia was about to decline when Bill approached Lee. "Alright you got the job, what was your name?"

"It's Lee." The two shook hands.

"Now, Lee, don't make me regret bringing you along." Bill said as he walked past Lee with Tavia following watched them leave the rooftop, he stayed behind and eyed the horizon, and he saw an endless amount of trees. But suddenly he saw a dozen walkers exit the forest and make their way towards the camp. Lee shrugged assuming it was no big deal. After a few moments Lee could see many walkers enter the parking lot, before long it looked like a hundred were approaching.

"I've gotta to tell someone, fast." Lee said as he ran towards the rooftops exit, however due to the rain he slipped and fell back slamming against the ground, acing in pain. He got to his feet and swung open the door and began running towards Bill's office. When he made his way down the stairs he saw that no-one was there.

Lee ran up to the microphone, pushed down on the speaker button and yelled: "_ATTENTION, THERE IS A LARGE HERD OF WALKERS COMING TOWARDS THE CAMP!_" When Lee said that he saw everyone scramble to grab weapons from the armory and Bill began leading them to the rooftops. Lee left the office running and began following the crowd of people up the roof of the hardware store.

When he arrived he saw Tavia, Luke, Carlos and Bill positioning the other survivors, while trying to yell through the loud rain. "HEY YOU WITH THE BALLCAP! TAKE POSITIONS WITH LUKE AT THE END HERE!" Tavia yelled. Lee saw what appeared to be an organized system of defense.

Carlos approached Lee and handed him a standard 9mm pistol. "Go downstairs and kill anything that gets in." He ordered, Lee nodded and made his way back down after a few seconds he could hear the sound gunfire.

A young girl with glasses approached Lee. "Mister the big door over there is going to break!" she told him, in a panic.

"Go and find a place to hide." He told her, she nodded. Lee saw the loading bay door was being lifted by several walkers beating and placing their arms under it. Lee placed his new gun into his jacket, dropped his backpack and ran to the armory. When he entered he grabbed the first sharp thing he could find, a Lee ran back to the loading door he began cutting off the hands of the walkers. One of the bay doors was lifted up a foot, the faces of walkers could be seen. Lee ran towards it, pulled out his gun and fired several shots. There were seven dead walkers lined up in the opening of the bay door, others were piling on top.

Lee heard a scream, "Help!" Lee ran in the direction of the screams. When Lee was close enough he saw Lily and some other children along with a couple of adults running away.

Lee ran in the opposite direction of where they were headed to see Gerry and Nate fighting several walkers. "Hey Lee! Move that crate up against that door!" Gerry yelled while whacking a walker in the head with a plank of wood. Lee ran to the crate and began pushing it in the direction of what appeared to be an emergency exit. He stopped pushing due to a walker advancing towards him. He quickly pulled out his gun and shot it in the head, then continued to push.

When he reached the emergency exit there were three walkers in his way however Nate had dispatched them with his 9mm so that Lee could proceed. "Thanks man!" Lee yelled as he finished pushing the crate into the door, closing it just before another walker could enter. Lee turned to see walkers attacking Nate and Gerry. Nate had his pocket knife out, he stabbed a walker straight between the eyes then his knife broke so he punched another walker and made a dash for safety, two walkers followed him.

Lee pulled out his gun and killed one the two that were following Nate but when he turned to Gerry, Lee's eyes widened with shock.


	5. Dangerous youth

Lee saw a familiar horror that seemed to never end. Gerry had four walkers tearing him apart. Two on his shoulders one on his neck and another on his leg. Gerry looked at Lee, eyes and mouth wide open, unable to yell due to his wind pipe being torn out.

"No!" Lee aimed to fire on the walkers but as he pulled the trigger he heard a click each time he pulled. Gerry collapsed while the four continued to gorge on him, Lee ran towards him kicking the walker that was ripping the skin off Gerry's shin then repeated and furiously stomping its head in.

The three walkers turned their attention to Lee, all growling at him. Lee was ready to fight, but his battle was cut short when shots were fired, one by one all three walkers fell to the ground. Lee looked up to see an older man holding a rifle.

"You alright?" The man asked. Lee looked down at Gerry feeling a pain in his chest he was all too familiar with, Lee sighed. Several of the camps survivors scanned the store for any more walkers. "Luckily it was a small herd, maybe two or three hundred." The man informed Lee.

"I suppose."Lee kept staring down at Gerry.

The older man walked up beside him and said: "Don't dwell on it, son." Then he handed Lee a silver pistol. "Don't let him turn." Lee took the pistol and aimed at Gerry's bruised, bloody face.

"I'm sorry, Gerry." Lee said before firing.

Linda saw what Lee did then ran towards her deceased husband with tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry Gerry!" Linda let out while crying into her former husband's chest getting blood on her face and clothes.

"Linda-"

He began but Linda looked up at him and said: "Go find Lily, make sure she doesn't see her father like this." Lee nodded and began scanning the crowd of rushing people, looking for Lily. Lee did not see her anywhere so he made his way up to Bill's office to call for her. One he turned around the corner to make his way up the stairs he stopped having seen her sitting on the top stair.

Lee made his way up and sat beside her. "You okay?" Lee asked. Lily didn't reply. "That was pretty scary huh?" Lee said trying to get her to talk.

"Yeah." She replied.

"And some people got hurt." Lee told her.

She considered this and said: "I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"Sometimes that isn't a choice we get to have."

Lily frowned. "That's not fair." She said frustrated.

"Yeah I know." Lee replied.

"Is everything going to be okay?" She asked him.

"I don't know." He told her, then she looked towards the bottom of the stairs."Things haven't been okay for a long time." He said still looking at her.

"What are we going to do?" she asked.

"Make the most out of what we've got." She thought about that.

Bill made his way up the stairs, stopping next to Lee. "Good work back there." Bill told him.

"Thanks." Lee replied.

"This happened due to my people's incompetence, so I am very sorry for your loss." Bill said while entering his office.

"What did he mean by that?" Lily asked looking up at Lee with worried eyes.

"Your father... didn't make it." Lily slouched and began sobbing lightly. Lee sighed, grief stricken.

The Next Day…

Lee awoke lying on a bench near the armory. He could hear people talking indistinctly from inside the armory. After a brief moment to stretch Lee saw the man who had helped him with Gerry the day before exit the armory with a younger man with a red cap on.

"Why don't YOU just get out there and burn those bodies?" The younger man asked, agitated.

"I am, I'm just asking if you would help out more like Luke does." The older man replied, that seemed to offend the young man.

"It's always about Luke with you."

The older man turned to see Lee. "We didn't have a proper introduction yesterday, did we?"

"Names Lee."

The two shook hands. "Pete, and this Nick." He said gesturing to the younger man beside him. "So just for a heads up, it sounds like Bill is pissed, pretty sure we are going to have to hear about it later on." Pete said.

"Why would he be angry?" Lee asked.

Nick spoke up: "One of our guys wasn't keeping watch, and a lot of people just ran to hide instead of helping, not to mention we lost seven people yesterday."

Lee shook his head. "Need any help with uh, burning bodies was it?" Lee asked.

"I don't think we are going to need much help after very long, we got a few dozen people out there stacking bodies." Pete said.

"So when is this supply run going to happen?" Lee asked.

"Whenever Bill starts hollering I suppose." Pete said.

Nick's radio buzzed then Bill came on: "_Wake everyone up__ and have them meet me outside_, _Carver_ _out_."

With that there were several people replying with: _"Copy!"_ Pete shrugged then the three of them made their way outside. After a few minutes there were several people in the parking lot which now has piles of bodies waiting to be lit on fire.

Carver approached the collective of people, then everyone got quiet. "I understand yesterday we lost some people, well that's our fault!" Bill said. Everyone looked anxious or maybe afraid, He continued: "Many of you failed to help in defending your home, many of you failed to follow procedure, but one has failed us all." Bill walked towards a thin man with glasses and a green baseball cap.

_"What is he gonna do?"_ Lee grabbed his arm and tugged him out of the crowd and tossed him forward then proceeded to punch the man in his gut, causing the man to hold his stomach in pain. Many flinched at the attack while others covered their children's eyes, unsure what to do. Bill then punched him in his face, knocking his glasses and hat off in the process.

"Your only job yesterday was to keep watch for lurkers!" Bill yelled at the bruised man before him.

Many of the people in the crowd were cheering and yelling: "Kill him!" Dean tried crawling away.

"P-Please It was raining." Bill picked him up by his collar then punched him again this time straight in the nose.

"Bill! Cut that out! That new guy, Lee was able to let us know what was coming!" Luke yelled.

"And we're grateful for that, however his warning caused a panic."

Luke frowned. "Don't you have a supply run to go out on, Bill?"

Bill turned to the man he was beating and bent down to his level. "Look, Dean if you screw up one more time, you are out." Then he walked back inside Howe's, Luke approached Dean and helped him up.

The crowd of people walked back into Howe's, some people gave Dean ugly looks on their way inside. One person even spit on him and called him "Useless" Lee turned to look at Pete, Pete looked angry in a way that felt somewhat isolated as though he couldn't do anything. Lee followed the crowd inside until he saw Linda sitting alone on a bench near the loading bay doors.

Lee made his way into her direction but was stopped when Nate approached from his side and said: "Lee come check this out."

Lee turned to him and asked in a tired tone you might hear from a parent to a child: "What's up, Nate?"

Nate ushered to a door, Lee said nothing more and followed Nate into the room. Once they were both inside Lee scoffed. "This is what you were so interested in?" Lee said, they were in a dark room with many comics spread around the floor and some on the shelves.

"No, but look what I found." Nate pulled out what looked like a composition notebook.

"And what would be the significance of that?" Lee asked. Nate pulled open the door to the outside for light, there was a lot of planks and nails and hammers and saws outside, might be their next construction job.

"Just read it, you dam skeptic." Nate said. Lee placed it on the floor then opened it to see each page had a listed name, all their details, and their contribution/ration count.

"So is there anything particular I'm looking for?" Lee asked.

"Find Taylor Davis, would you?" After flipping through several pages Lee found Taylor Davis.

Lee began reading aloud: "Taylor Davis, age 29, below average height, brown hair, low contribution and high aggression, 7 instances of rebellious attitude. 3 rations per day, sometimes 4."

Nate turned with a grin. "And what does the bottom say?"

Lee read the quickly scribbled note in blue pen that read: "Must remove." Lee's eyes widened.

"Yeah cool guy this Bill fellow, wonder how he 'removed' someone and somehow knows that she is dead." Nate inferred.

Lee looked at Nate, "How did you get this?"

"I went through his stuff while you guys all went outside, I was honestly looking for a key or something but I got curious when I saw a journal hiding in his pretty little shelf."

"Nate this is good that we know what we are dealing with but you've got to put that back where you found it."

Nate looked at him with a friendly smile. "No problem, man, you don't have to raise your blood pressure, go ask Bill about the supply run and drag out the conversation long enough so that he will be distracted enough for me to return this."

"Alright." Lee nodded, Nate stuffed the note book in his jacket and they both left the comic store. Lee looked around until he noticed Bill approaching with a standard 9mm pistol in his left hand.

Nate raised an eyebrow and leaned against a nearby wall watching Bill approach as though he was Lee's bodyguard. Lee stood there waiting to see what Bill wanted or rather what he was going to do with that pistol. Lee grabbed his snub nosed pistol and stuffed it in his side jacket pocket. Once Bill was standing before him he said: "So, you ready for that supply run?"

Lee cleared his throat and said: "Uh, yeah sure, I'm ready whenever you are."

"I'd prefer if it was just you and me." Bill said. Lee looked unsure. "You're not in any trouble, your pretty skilled right? Well I want to see it."

Lee took the 9mm and said: "Alright let's get going then." They both walked towards the loading bays, Lee turned to see Nate making his way up to Bill's office.

"So where are we going?" Lee asked.

"I'll explain when we get to the truck." Bill replied while the loading bay door began to open. Tavia approached Bill and handed him an AK-47.

"Good luck, Bill." She told him.

Lee felt inferior holding a 9mm but what other choice was there? He only had one arm. Lee saw a white moving van ahead of him. "Well, you got shotgun." Bill said as he opened the driver's side door and tossed his AK-47 inside then climbed in front of the wheel. Lee opened the passenger's side door and hopped in, moving Bill's weapon out of the way. Bill backed the truck up and turned towards the road. Lee looked out of his window to see smoke and piles of bodies on fire.

"So you were going to explain when we got in the truck right?" Lee said.

"About a month ago some people attacked our camp, killed and kidnapped some of our people." Bill explained.

"So we're going to save them right? Just the two of us?" Lee asked.

"I've got faith in you, Lee." Bill replied. Lee thought about that, unsure what faith he would have in a guy with only one arm.

"So who are the people who we're taken?"

"Twelve females ranging from ages eight to thirty five, so when you're killing these guys, don't feel any remorse." Bill told him. Lee stopped talking and looked out his window towards the trees.

After close to an hour of driving Bill spoke again. "We're getting close so let me give you some information: There are probably 20-30 men in that camp and they aren't nice people, my scouts located them a week ago they are living in a trailer park, they have dug large holes and wooden barricades for protecting their camp."

Lee felt as though he was heading towards his death. "So what is the plan?" Lee asked.

"First we have to locate the girls and see if we can get them to safety then kill every last man in that camp."

"Any plan for killing these guys?" Lee asked, still hesitant.

"I've got some masks and knock out gas in the back, but if it doesn't get them all we're going to have a fire fight on our hands."

Lee sighed then Bill stopped the van. "Well let's get our gear." Bill said, and with that they both stepped out of the van and headed to the rear. Bill opened the back and pulled out a brown suit case and placed it on the ground then opened it. "Here." Bill said handing Lee a mask. It looked like a mask an exterminator might use.

"Okay so do you know how we are going to get into the camp?" Lee asked after putting on the mask.

"We can just knock over a barricade, we aren't Special Forces we're only here to kill some drugged up rednecks." Bill said while putting his mask on. "Now take this." Bill said while handing a brown leather belt with pockets and a gun holster.

"You found this or made it?" Lee asked.

"Someone else made it, does it matter?" Lee shrugged and put on the belt then placed his 9mm in the holster. "Here's the gas, don't waste it." Bill said while handing three gas canisters to Lee. "Now let's get this over with." Bill said, then they both began walking towards the camp. A moment later the camp was in sight. "Just stay calm and don't throw all the canisters in the same place." Bill said.

"Okay I'll go around the side you go through that way." Lee ushered to the nearest barricade.

"Sounds good to me." Bill replied. They both made their way to their positions, Lee waved to Bill meaning to begin throwing the gas. Lee opened one of his belt pockets and tossed the first one straight ahead, the next towards the right, and the last towards the left then pulled the spiked barricade in to the hole on the right, and it landed on a walker.

After twenty seconds the camp was filled with smoke, Lee could hear coughing and yelling men. Lee slowly began sneaking his way into the camp, pistol in hand, suddenly a man around the side of the camp coughed frantically and passed out right in front of Lee.

"Fuck." Lee said, heart racing. Lee met Bill at the heart of the camp. "Looks like everyone is out cold." Lee inferred.

"Yeah? Alright then let's begin the sweep." Bill said.

"Sweep?" Lee asked unsure as to what he meant.

"Yeah sweep, put a bullet in their heads so they won't be able to retaliate later on."

Lee looked at him without saying anything. "For fucks sake, fine go find the girls and start carrying them into the truck, I'll do the sweep by myself." Bill said, agitated. Lee began making his way towards the closest trailer. He slowly placed his hand on the door latch and quickly swung open the door, once he did that he quickly grabbed his pistol and aimed inside and entered cautiously. Lee heard a single shot from outside then after a moment, another then, and another.

Lee felt disgusted. "..'Sweep' sick bastard..."

Then he turned to see five young girls, no adults in sight. "I really hope the others are in a different trailer." He said as he put away his gun and picked up one of the girls and made his way outside stepping over the bodies. The smoke had cleared which made the process of retrieving the girls and executing unconscious men easier for the two of them. This process continued for several minutes until all five girls were in the truck.

When Lee returned to the camp to check another trailer Bill came out of one with a wooden box, at this point both of them had taken off their masks. "Don't bother searching for the rest of the women, I already checked all the trailers those women and girls are probably dead."

"Well at least we managed to rescue some of them." Lee said.

"There are a couple a crates inside this trailer the rest are filled with drugs and other nasty things, keep watch while I move these things." Bill ordered.

"Alright." Lee said while scanning the trees. After several minutes of keeping watch, a couple of walkers made their way towards the camp, due to the sound of shooting. Bill returned to the camp.

"One more left and we can go." Bill said as he made his way back into the trailer. The walkers fell into the holes which surrounded the camp. Lee kept watch when suddenly a man came at Lee from the back and slashed at him only slightly cutting his jacket.

"Imma kill you, Boy!" the crazed blond mullet man squealed at him while charging at him. Lee tried for his gun but instantly reconsidered if it would be fast enough. Lee grabbed the man's wrist and they both fell to the ground. The man scrambled for his knife but Lee quickly pounced on him putting him in a headlock.

"Let go, Asshole!" The man yelled but Lee kept his grip tight. Bill stepped out of the trailer and saw Lee wrestling with a stranger.

"Bill! Get this guy!" Lee yelled.

"My hands appear to be full, I'll be back in a second." Bill said while making his way towards the van.

"BILL!" Lee yelled, the man was reaching for his knife every second he inched closer. Since Lee only had one arm he didn't have the strength to pull him in his direction so he was slowly being dragged while holding the man's throat.

Lee knew what he had to do. Lee yelled then twisted the man's neck, breaking it in the process. The man laid motionless, knife in hand. Lee had just barely survived the attack. When Lee collected himself he got back to his feet, pulled out his pistol and shot the man in the head. Bill got back just as he did it.

"Nice work, Lee, now let's get back." With that they made their way to the moving van. "Lee, would you mind staying in the back with the girls? Don't want em waking up frightened."

"Sure." Lee replied.

Lee hopped into the back while Bill shut the door. "See you in an hour." Bill said as it closed. Lee turned to look at the girls that laid next to the dozen boxes.

After a half-hour of staring at the wall one of the girls woke up. "Where am I?" The girl asked while rubbing her eyes.

"You're on your way back home." The girl didn't say anything else, she appeared traumatized. "My name's Lee." He said.

She didn't look at him. "Hey, Lee." She said emotionless. The girl was dark skinned with messy hair, she was wearing a night-gown, and she might have been around eleven or so.

"What's your name?" Lee asked.

"September." She replied.

"That a cool name." He said with a smile.

"Thanks, mister." She said still without making eye contact. "Are those men back there dead?" she asked.

"Yeah they are." Lee replied with a grim look.

"Did you kill them?" she asked.

"Just one." Lee said unsure where she was going with it.

She smiled. "Me too." Lee looked away from her. "How did you kill him?" She asked, still grinning.

"I'm not going to tell you." Lee said.

She stopped smiling and said: "When the big guy who used to come in and does the things to us, he always fell asleep, so I gave him a couple of doses of heroine, nobody knew it was me, they all assumed that he overdosed, but I knew."

Lee kept quiet.

"Look mister those guys were child molesters and murderers, if you feel bad about killing one of them then you're a piece of shit."

Lee frowned. "One of those guys jumped me from behind, I had to snap his neck." Lee told her.

She laughed and said: "Like a twig?"

Lee looked at her with sorrow. "Looks like we rescued you too late."

She ignored that. "I like you, Lee you're a cool guy." She said.

"Thanks." He replied, after that they said nothing for the remainder of the ride.

When the back of the van was opened there were several parents and other survivors waiting to get their family and the supplies out of the van, the other girls were awake by the time they arrived. Lee got out and walked past Tavia and the others giving nobody any eye contact, basically string at the ground the whole time. Some people began crying either because they had reunited with their daughter or their sister or because they realized their family member didn't make it back.

Nate approached Lee and whispered while walking with him. "Hey I put the notebook back where it belongs, it was not easy with Rebecca always being in there."

Lee looked at him and grinned but his eyes looked tired or maybe it was just his mood. "Good job, Nate let's have a drink later on."

Nate raised an eyebrow, "Seriously? I thought you were Captain Frosty."

Lee kept walking. "Have you seen Linda or Lily around anywhere?" Lee asked.

"I saw them in the green room upstairs." Nate told him.

"Thanks, man." Lee said while making his way to the roof.

Once he got there he saw Dean shaking and using binoculars to watch the horizon. Lee entered the green room to see Linda and Lily actually smiling and picking berries. It actually even cheered him up a bit. Lily turned to see Lee.

"Lee your back!" She exclaimed.

Linda looked at Lee and asked: "So how did that supply run go?"

"Well we managed to rescue some girls and get some supplies together."

Linda smiled. "Well, that's good."

"Yep, well I was just checking on you two I'll talk to you girls later." Lee said before turning to the exit.

"Something on your mind, Lee?" Linda asked.

"It's nothing." He replied walking away. "_How can they be so cheery after what happened yesterday_?" Lee thought to himself. "_Maybe they are just trying to forget about it, I wouldn't blame them if that's the case."_ Lee walked down the stairs as he did a thought occurred to him: "Where did I leave my backpack?" He said as he made his was down to the main place where people slept.

He looked around until he found it near one of the orange tents. Someone had emptied it, Lee unzipped the tent closest to it to find it empty of any people but he did find a couple of empty cans which used to belong to him and his gun on a sleeping bag. "Well I guess I'll just be taking that." Lee said while picking it up and placing it in the back of his jeans.

Lee began walking away to find a place to sit. However he found that he was being followed. The person following him was, September the girl he met in the van.

He turned to look at her. "Can I help you with anything?"

She had a look of excitement. "I just learned that my dad died trying to find me."

Lee raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you so happy?" She began laughing.

Lee looked at her, uncertain why she chose to tell him.


	6. Roommates

_Lee opened his eyes, his room was dark but he could see faint light seeping through the blinds. He sat up, rubbed his early morning eyes and got out of bed. He made his way to the bathroom, located towards the back of the room. He pushed open the door and made his way towards the sink. Once he was there standing in front of it he rested both hands on both sides of the sink, still drowsy. Lee looked in the mirror and examined his face. He saw bits of dirt resting on his left cheek-bone. _

_Lee grabbed a cloth which had been hanging on a hook beside him. He dipped it into the sink which was filled with water and squeezed it. He proceeded to wipe his face then tossed the wash back on the hook beside him. He looked in the mirror seeing no dirt. "Better." He turned to make his way back into the motel room but stopped when he saw a familiar face standing by the bathroom door. "Everything alright, Clementine?" He asked._

"_Yeah, I drew you a picture, look." Clementine held up the picture she drew. It was a picture of him holding apples. _

_"That's neat, Clem, thanks." He told her with a smile. _

_"I'm glad you like it. It's you bringing food to Lily so everyone can eat." She told him. _

_"Really?" He said then examined the picture again to see an angry brown haired woman in stick figure form looking at Lee. Lee let out a small laugh while shaking his head. Clementine smiled._

Lee woke up disappointed to see that he was in the comic store and not the motor inn. He rubbed his eyes and noticed a piece of paper folded up beside him. He picked it up, it said 'Love note.' On the front.

Annoyed, he unfolded it, it read: _"I remember when he turned and killed the woman who I used to call my friend He just munched on her face while those redneck fucks came running inside one even got bit it was funny Send me a note back okay? I want to know about your first time killing one."_

Lee crumbled the paper up with his only hand and tossed it. He got up and made his way towards the tents to check on his friends. Once he began looking he heard a knocking on glass so he surveying his surrounding to see where it was coming from it was from Bills office, Rebecca. She ushered for him to come on up. He shrugged and made his way to the stairs.

Once he was in the office Rebecca approached with a distasteful look on her face.  
>"Hey, I couldn't help but notice you taking things out of another person's tent last week."<p>

Lee was confused.  
>"What?"<p>

"Don't bullshit me, Lee, I saw you when you got back from the supply run." Rebecca persisted.

Lee recalled.  
>"Oh, that wasn't stealing. That backpack belonged to me, I must have dropped it and someone took it while I was gone."<p>

She frowned.  
>"Yeah make up whatever bullshit story you want to but if you keep that stealing thing up, I'm going to get Bill involved."<p>

Lee frowned.  
>"Don't you remember me showing up with that backpack? Besides even if I had stolen it, I nearly died to save those girls and to get those supplies for you people."<p>

She softened her expression.  
>"I guess you're right. I'm sorry, Lee."<p>

"Don't worry about it." He said while turning to leave the office.

"Oh, and Lee?" She said, stopping him from leaving.

"Yeah?"

"My husband, Alvin, is working on fixing up our perimeter. Could you keep an eye on him? Lurker's might sneak up on him." She requested.

Lee nodded.  
>"I'll see what I can do." With that Lee made his way down stairs and through the tent area. While on his way to the exit he noticed the armory and got curious. He entered the armory to see a large man loading up magazines. He had glasses and a blue button up shirt.<p>

"Can I help you, son?" the man asked in a heavy southern accent.

"Was wondering if I could make an exchange."

"Lay out your weapons on the table in front of you and we'll find something you like." Lee pulled out his two 9mm pistols and his smaller snub nosed revolver and laid them out on the table.

"Ammo is always nice." Lee told him. The man got up and examined Lee's guns. One of his 9mm pistols was empty the other had four bullets left and the revolver had two rounds left.

"I'll take this here pistol and in exchange I'll reload the other guns you got there." He said while scratching his snow white hair.

"Sounds fair." Lee said.

"Names Stewart." The large man said while opening an ammo box.

"Lee."

"You know, you should really get used to up close and personal weapons. Guns run out of ammo and are loud enough to draw herds in." Stewart told him. Lee nodded. "Check out the weapon-rack behind you and pick out something." The large man told him while filling Lee's clip.

Lee turned and saw axes, combat knives, tire irons, hammers, and many different types of sharp and blunt weapons. "What do you think I should get?" Lee asked.

"I would recommend something light and fast. So probably a knife or long screwdriver." Lee looked through the knives once more, he picked up a combat knife and placed it on his belt, there was a knife quiver next to the gun holster.

"You can keep that, I won't take anything from you in exchange." The man said while getting up and handing Lee his 9mm and revolver.

"Thanks, I really appreciate that."

"Don't mention it, it's the least I can do for the guy who brought my daughter back to me."

Lee took the 9mm and placed it in his holster, then took the revolver and put it in his jacket pocket. "Bill was there too."

Stewart frowned. "That asshole probably only went on that trip to get supplies, if his 'scouts' told him those men were low on supplies he might not of gone." Lee shrugged. "But you, Lee, your different. You volunteered, and no offense but if I only had one arm I might never have done what you did." There was a brief pause.

"If I'm being honest, I never knew where or why we were going, I'm hoping I'll find someone I lost contact to by going on runs."

"Who did you lose?" Stewart asked.

"A girl I found when all this started, her name is Clementine."

Stewart nodded. "Well alright then, I hope you find her."

The two shook hands. "Thanks." Lee left the armory and made his way to the exit. He could hear hammering and indistinct voices outside. Once he opened the boarded up exit door he saw wooden fences being built along the store. He looked around to see a few people keeping watch with Ak-47's. "Keep an eye on Alvin, huh?" Lee said to himself.

"I want support beams placed on the inside of the walls!" Bill said while watching the others work.

Lee went back inside feeling as though he wouldn't be much help with only one arm. He made his way up to Bill's office. "Hey, Rebecca are there any more supply runs? Or anything?" Lee asked.

Rebecca turned to face him. "Nope, but we have scouts go out pretty regularly, talk to Tavia if you're interested."

Lee nodded. "Where can I find her?"

"Id check the roof."

"Thanks, again." With that Lee made his way up to the roof. Lee saw dean shaking and looking intently through his binoculars.

"Uh hello there." Lee said.

Dean was startled and shaking.

"I apologize I uh shouldn't have snuck up on you." Lee said while making his way to the plant room. He opened the plant room door to see Tavia talking with Linda and Lily.

They turned to look at him. "Hey, Lee, want to help?" Linda asked.

"I'm not much of a farmer." He said with a smile.

"I'll teach you!" Lily spoke up.

"Sounds like a plan." He said, smiling at her.

"Hey, Tavia mind if I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure, Lee." The two made their way outside.

"So what's up, Lee?" She asked.

"I was wondering if it was possible for me to go out on scouting."

"It's possible but I can't make any promises. Go get permission from Bill then I'll tell you how it works."

Lee nodded, "Thanks." She turned and made her way back into the plant room. Lee saw Dean still staring through the binoculars clutching them tightly.

"Hey, Dean."

Dean turned. "What?" He asked.

"Are you alright?" Lee asked.

Dean didn't reply.

"Bill shouldn't have done that to you, it wasn't right."

Dean kept quiet.

"But it's time to move on, he won't hit you again." Lee told him.

"How do you know?" Dean asked.

"Because I won't let him."

Dean considered this. "Thanks, Lee."

Lee nodded then turned to the exit but was greeted by September, now in blue jeans and a white T-shirt and her hair was combed back.

"Hey, Lee. Look what I found." Lee looked down at what was in her hands, an ear.

"Where did you get that?" Lee asked.

"In the parking lot, apparently I missed a good herd." She replied with a frown.

"Well go throw it away." Lee told her.

"No way, I'm keeping it." She said pulling it away and protecting it with her hands.

"Why would you want to keep that?" Lee asked.

"Because it looks cool." She said looking at it.

Lee sighed.

"I'll get rid of it if you teach me how to shoot." She said with a grin.

Lee frowned. "Deal."

September began laughing and then ran away with joy. Lee put his hand on his forehead then made his way down stairs and into the loading bay room then through the exit to see that the fences were nearly finished. Luke was talking with Bill, the conversation was indistinct, Luke looked somewhat displeased. Lee approached to get permission for scouting. Bill noticed Lee walking towards him and put his hand in Luke's face as a way of dismissing him. Luke walked away while shaking his head.

"What was all that about?" Lee asked.

"Nothing worth consideration, can I help you?" Bill replied.

"I was thinking it might suit me better if I did some scouting like Tavia does."

"I don't like too many folks leaving camp, sorry."

Lee looked at him displeased. "So people aren't allowed to come and go?"

Bill frowned. "What do you think this is? A holiday inn? We lost that crazy little shit's dad because he went off looking for her. We found him walking among the dead a day later."

Lee frowned.

Bill noticed Lee's persistent attitude. "You know what? Fine, go scout around all you want, maybe you'll find your little girls remains out there somewhere."

Lee balled his fist up and glared at him angrily.

Bill simply crossed his arms waiting for a reaction. "Well, go on then."

Lee felt like exploding, he felt like lashing out, but instead he stepped back and glared at Bill. "No… you're not worth it." Then he walked towards the door he came out from.

Nate was standing by that door watching the whole ordeal. "Whoa, Lee, you look pissed!" Then he began walking with him. Lee didn't speak. "What did he say to set you off?"

"Don't worry about it." Lee told him.

"Come on, Lee! Now I can be your witness this time."

Lee kept walking.

"Fine, be that way. You know, this place is pretty boring, maybe we could take a few boxes of supplies and hit the road."

Lee considered that for a moment. "Not just yet, I want to give this place some more time before leaving."

Nate rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever, you tell Linda about what I showed you last week?"

"I don't think she's ready to hear it just yet, but still thanks for finding out about that."

"Yeah, sure whatever. I'm going to go find a lady friend to share a sleeping bag with tonight." With that he walked off in a different direction. Lee began making his way to the comic store but was stopped when he heard the intercom.

_"Attention, lunch starts in twenty minutes."_

"Sounds like they disconnected the outdoor speakers, smart." Lee said to himself as he continued on his way. When he entered the comic store he noticed a sleeping bag over by the window. He approached it curiously, there was an ear lying on top of it. "September." He muttered to himself. Lee then noticed a notebook laying on the shelf beside him. He opened it while keeping it on the shelf. There were multiple illustrations of gruesomely drawn people, and they looked very realistic. Lee slammed it shut then left the comic store.

At the door was Lily. "Hey! Wait up!" She said while running up beside him.

"Oh sorry, I didn't see you there."

"There was a girl leaving stuff in there earlier." She told him.

"Yeah, I know."

"I think she is a little crazy." Lily said while twirling her finger beside her head.

"I don't know about that." Lee said with a smile.

"I heard her crying when she was sleeping, she kept saying 'alone' over and over."

Lee's smile faded "And then what?" He asked with a worried face.

"Then she woke up and ran to the door to the room you keep sleeping in and she started smiling and laughing." At that moment Lee felt guilty.

"Where is your mom?"

"She went to the lunch room or the picnic table place by the army place."

"You mean the armory?"

Lily gave an innocent frown while putting her hands on her hips. "Uh huh."

Lee laughed at that. After a moment they were in the loading bay room where they normally ate at. Lee looked around the room full of people sitting and walking around. Food wasn't given out yet. Lee noticed Linda talking to Tavia again.

"Well looks like your mom found herself a friend." Lee said while walking towards an empty picnic table.

"Yeah." Lily replied. Lee sat down, she sat down next to him.

"Why don't you go make some friends?"

Lily put her finger on her chin as though she was contemplating philosophy. "Because I have responsibilities!" She said proudly.

"Oh yeah?" Lee said smiling with an eyebrow raised.

"I am a gardener now and my duties keep me too busy for any friends."

Lee made a pretend-hurt face.

"Oh but I find time to be your friend. I'm going to go see mom, bye Lee." She said running away.

Lee shook his head with a smirk.

Bill came up behind Lee and said: "Hey, Lee, I apologize for my rudeness earlier. Would you like to help me with something?"

Lee turned to look up at him. "What?"

"There a dozen or so lurkers along the tree line, would you go out there and deal with em? I don't want too many to gather so close to the camp." Bill had a hatchet in his hand outstretched to Lee.

"Why me?" Lee asked while taking the hatchet.

"Because if you do this I will give you a couple of scouting assignments."

"Fine, be back in a bit." Bill gave him a pat on the back as he walked off. _"Pretty sure he expects me to get killed while doing this."_ Lee thought. A minute later Lee opened the boarded up front door and made his way towards to collective of walkers ahead. Lee had the hatchet gripped tight in his hand and level with his chest.

The closest walker was a female, short black hair, wearing a tan shirt and ripped pair of blue jeans. He quickly jogged towards the walker and lifted the hatchet to where it was above his head.

"Raa-" It growled but was cut off just as Lee forced the hatchet forward slicing the walker straight through the eye and left side of its forehead. Lee used his leg to get her off of his hatchet. Three other walkers advanced ahead. Lee kept advancing when the next slim male walker approached he sliced open the top of the walkers head then moved back to avoid the other two walkers, leaving the hatchet in its skull.

Lee kicked one of the walkers back causing a domino effect knocking the both of them to the ground. Lee saw the larger group of walkers was a mere few meters away. Lee quickly pulled out his combat knife and stabbed down at the first walker, quickly entering then exiting its right eye. The second walker pounced at Lee biting at the fore arm of his jacket. Lee quickly turned his wrist and stabbed through the second male walker's temple with it was still biting on his sleeve. Lee scrambled to back away from the other group of walkers. There were maybe ten left in front of him. Lee backed away slowly one walker got too close and was quickly killed, Lee felt himself being overwhelmed but didn't give up.

Many other survivors came rushing outside with axes and hammers and other weapons. Luke led the group of people out to aid Lee. "Lee! Come this way!" Luke yelled to him. Lee quickly turned and ran towards the group. "What the hell are you doing?" Luke asked as the other survivors ran ahead to deal with the remaining walkers.

"Bill gave me a job to do." He replied.

Luke frowned. "No way."

Lee looked ahead to see the survivors picking off the walkers. "He told me if I cleared the perimeter he would let me go out on scouting."

Luke shook his head. "You are nuts, but I give you credit for having guts. Dean saw you out here and radioed me about it."

"Thanks for the help."

A Hispanic female survivor with a pitchfork approached with the other survivors. "They're all dead now." She said with a heavy accent.

"Good now let's all get inside." Luke said while turning towards Howe's. After a minute or so everyone was back inside. "You must have really wanted that scouting job." Luke said while he and the rest of the survivors made their way towards the armory.

Bill approached. "Well I hear you did well. I have a car ready for you, I'll give you more details tomorrow. For now go get washed up and eat something." Lee walked away without uttering a word to him.

5 hours later…

Lee was once again in the comic store. He was laying on the sleeping back staring at the ceiling. He heard a knock on the door. He got up and made his way towards the door and opened it. It was September.

"Yes?" Lee said.

"Will you teach me how to shoot now?" She asked holding out a six shot revolver.

"Maybe tomorrow, okay?"

She put the gun away. "Okay, can I stay in here with you?"

Lee remembered what Lily told him earlier. "Yeah, okay." Lee opened the door and stepped out of the way.

"You still got my notebook?"

"Unfortunately, yeah." Lee closed the door and made his way back to the sleeping bag.

September sat down beside Lee. "So how come you went out and tried to take on all those walkers? That's just stupid."

"I don't know." He said as he resumed looking up at the ceiling.

"I heard you did it over some stupid scouting thing." September said while flipping through her gruesome drawing book.

"You heard, huh?"

"Yeah, everybody is talking about it. 'You see that dumb guy try to commit suicide?' Or 'That guy Lee is pretty brave.'"

Lee rolled his eyes. "So why do you want to go scouting so badly?" She asked.

Lee sighed. "Well I was hoping that I might happen upon finding my family if I keep going out on scouting jobs."

September laughed. "That's stupid."

Lee smiled. "Yeah, well sometimes we do stupid things for our families. Imagine a father going out against all odds to save his young kidnapped daughter."

September kept quiet for several seconds after hearing that. "You know, I don't miss my dad at all."

Lee looked at her. "I would give anything to see my dad again. Your dad died for you, if you don't feel anything for him then you're a…" Lee stopped talking hoping she would pick up off of that.

"Oh well." She said erasing something in her notebook.

"I don't think you really feel that way. I heard you crying last night."

She frowned. "I was not."

Lee looked towards the ceiling. "Yeah okay." They stopped talking for several minutes.

"Is it cool if I stay in here for tonight?" she asked.

Lee turned and looked at her. "And where would you sleep?"

"I'll go take someone else's sleeping bag and bring it in here, we can be roommates."

"If you say so." Lee said turning away from her.

September quickly ran out of the comic store and after a few minutes she returned with a blue sleeping bag. "Got one." She said placing it a foot beside Lee's sleeping bag. "You know I saw a dead guy that got hit by a big truck or something. He looked like a half emptied tooth paste bottle."

Lee closed his eyes. "I ripped a walker in half trying to pull it out from under a tractor." Lee said.

September began laughing hysterically. Lee turned on his side facing away from September and fell asleep listening to her laugh.


	7. Alone in the cold

Lee kept staring ahead at the snowy roads, hoping they would stay clear of the dead. Though his beard had fully grown, his face was still cold.

"Fuck it." Lee said while turning on the heater. Lee had been driving a Red 1990 sedan which had 24 miles to the gallon, surely running the heat for a few minutes wouldn't hurt. Lee could see Douglas ahead, it was a city in coffee county. Lee knew after Savannah to not enter cities but his job was to simply look and see if it was overrun and if not he would look around for supplies and grab what he could and return back to camp, this would be his fifth job this month.

Lee entered the city seeing a white sign saying "_Welcome to Douglas_" in green letters. The city wasn't anything special. It had some larger buildings here and there but it didn't stand out, however due to its central location it was growing fast in its time and might still have supplies. As Lee drove through the snow covered streets he saw very few walkers but he stayed alert regardless.  
>"Okay now where can i find something useful to bring back?" Lee drove on surveying the city for places that were not picked clean of supplies. As he continued driving he saw someone scavenging the back of a Trailer attached to a Semi-truck, It appeared to be a man.<p>

Lee parked the car behind the trailer, the trailer appeared to only have a single wooden crate in it. The man in the back appeared to have only a short sleeved grey shirt and blue jeans. "Man, this guy must be freezing." Lee said while getting out of the vehicle also pulling the keys out of the transmission, Lee instantly felt the cold air as he stepped out. "Hello there!" Lee yelled to the man.

The man turned around and pulled a rifle out of the crate and pointed it at Lee. "Parar alli!" The man yelled in a deep voice while approaching Lee.

"Take it easy." Lee said raising his only hand.

"Estoy tomando su coche!" The bald man yelled hopping off the trailer, still pointing the gun at Lee.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand." Lee said shaking his head.

"Car keys please." The man said with a heavy accent.

"Sure, here, whatever you like." Lee said taking the keys out of his right pocket and outstretching them to the man.

"Y ahora su arma de fuego." The man said while snatching the keys.

Lee looked at him confused.

"Gun, pendejo."

Lee slowly pulled his pistol from its holster and dropped it on the ground, "There."

The bald man picked it up and swung the rifle over his shoulder now aiming the pistol at Lee. "Move." The man instructed.

Lee stepped aside letting the man through to the car. "Fuck..." Lee said to himself.

"Gracias! Hasta luego!" The man said while laughing.

Lee watched the man enter the car and turn on the ignition. But suddenly he saw September spring up from behind the driver's side and slit his throat, then she began furiously stabbing the man in all area's she could reach, Neck, chest, right arm, face. Lee watched in horror as she butchered the now very bloody stranger. Blood was everywhere, on the windows on the seats all over whole affair took only a few short seconds and the man was motionless but she kept on stabbing and screeching.

Lee ran to the rear seat on the driver's side to get her to stop. "SEPTEMBER! STOP! IT'S OVER!" Lee said while frantically opening the rear door and pulling her out. She was kicking and screaming, the knife was left in the man's temple.

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO! I'M GONNA CUT HIM UP!" September snarled while trying to wiggle free.

"HE'S DEAD ALREADY!" Lee screamed. September stopped screaming and kicking and stared blankly at the dead man in the car then she sunk down and started crying.

She turned and began crying into Lee's shoulder. Muffled, she asked: "Why did he have to die so fast?"

Lee stared at the bloody body inside the car, and petting her dark hair he didn't provide an answer. Lee felt scared and disgusted with her, when her dad died she laughed but she only cried when the man she was stabbing died too fast, but still he couldn't help but feel compassion, it was a confusing feeling. "It's okay, let's just go home." Lee said ushering her to the rear seat on the right side of the car.

September sat down and Lee buckled her seat-belt and closed the door. Lee approached the man's bloody body and pulled him out by one arm, dragging him to the sidewalk leaving a bloody trail from the car to the body. Lee looked at September with disappointed eyes.

"I'm going to check for supplies in this truck, I'll be right back."

She turned with her blood covered face and smiled. "Okay, Lee."

Lee hopped into the back of the trailer and approached the crate. Inside he found various canned foods, flash lights, and blankets. "Guess I could wipe up the car with these blankets." Lee said while taking the neatly folded blankets out from the truck and approached the blood covered driver's side again. He began wiping the seat, then the dash, then the wind shield, and then the steering wheel. Still, the car still had a lot of blood in it, he used three blankets in the process. "That'll have to do." Lee tossed the bloody blankets onto the snow covered road then approached September with the last one. "You are going to have to go take a bath when we get back." Lee said while wiping blood off her face.

"Okay." She said while slouching and staring at the body of the dead stranger through her window. "He shouldn't have messed with us, huh?" She said.

Lee turned her face towards him and continued to clean off her face. "Yeah." He said. When her face appeared clean he patted her shoulder and shut the door. Lee opened the trunk of the car and began carrying items from the crate and placing them inside the trunk. This process took several minutes but eventually he had finished.

Lee sat down in the driver's seat where a man had just been butchered. He put the car in reverse and turned the car around and drove back the way he came. After Lee drove out of the city limit's he looked up at the rear view mirror to check on September. She had brought her note book with her and was drawing something in it.

"Whatcha doin back there?" Lee asked.

"Drawing." She replied.

"Okay, what are you drawing?"

"Its a surprise." She said.

"Sounds neat." Lee said now focusing on the road. "So what were you thinking when you decided to stash yourself back there? You aren't suppose to come along with me, you know." Lee said.

She kept focusing on her drawing and then replied: "Because you're my best friend and best friends stick together."

Lee stopped asking questions. After almost an hour of driving through the cold they finally could see the camp. Lee pulled up around the back of the store then stepped out of the car, bringing his blood covered pistol with him and placing it back in its holster, the last thing the stranger did was place it in the cup holder. September followed and wrapped herself around his arm as they approached the now opening loading bay door. Tavia was the first to meet them.

"Lee? why did you bring her with you? and why are you two covered in blood?" She asked.

"Mind your own business." September said with a stern look on her face.

"I take full responsibility, I shouldn't have brought her with me." Lee said.

She nodded, "Don't worry, I wont tell Bill." She said.

"I did find a good amount of supplies but What's in the back is all I managed to find. Also the city seems under control." Lee said while rubbing the back of his neck.

"It'll do, come on inside and get cleaned up." Tavia said.

"Thanks." Lee said while climbing into the warehouse with September not far behind.

"Why is everyone so nosy around here? I wish they would just hang themselves." September said.

Lee ignored that, already used to her death-rants. "Maybe you should try making some friends." Lee suggested.

"why?" She asked.

"Doesn't hanging around me get boring after awhile?" Lee said.

"Nope." She replied with a grin.

"Well, go get washed up, I'll see you in a bit." Lee told her.

"If you say so." She walked off leaving her notebook with him.

Lee looked down at it. It had bloody finger prints all over it, he considered looking through it to see what she drew but assumed it was what she always drew, dead things. Lee Made his way to the comic store which was now his own personal room. The room had drawings torn out of September's notebook and tapped on the walls and shelves. Lee dropped the notebook on the ground then unzipped his leather jacket and placed it on the counter, then his utility belt. Lee felt a slight chill but sat down to examine his left arm.

He had Carlos change his bandage several times, the peroxide didn't feel too good either. It had plenty of Pink scarring around it. It looked like it was starting to form a kind of round-like shape also. Lee sighed and went to lay down on his sleeping bag. He stared up at the ceiling, a common activity for him. He turned his head to the side seeing an empty sleeping bag. It reminded him of that night in Hershel's barn. "Manure." He said with a slight laugh. Suddenly his smile turned into an expression of sadness.

The door leading to the front of the store swung open. "Lee?" Linda said while entering and walking past him.

"Yeah?" he replied sitting up. She turned around to face him, tears were rolling down her face.

"Are you okay, Lin?" Lee asked.

She wiped her eyes. "I just can't do it anymore I'm trying to be strong for Lily but I just miss him so much." She said while pacing around the room.

"I can imagine." Lee said in a calming voice.

"Every morning I wake up half expecting him to be there, then quickly realizing he's gone and never coming back!" She yelled, frustrated. Lee let her talk. "And Lily... Looks so much like him..."

Linda sunk down against the counter planting her face in her hands.

Lee watched the grieving woman as she quietly sobbed then said: "In that first month I couldn't get my family out of my head, they were gone and I couldn't change that. I felt responsible, as though it was all my fault." Linda raised her head from her hands and looked at Lee as he spoke. "But I had Clementine. I still had a family. I saw hope when ever she would look up at me. Hope that this world is not all bad. Gerry wouldn't of wanted you to move on and take care of Lily as best you can."

Linda smiled and hugged him. "Thank you, Lee." She wiped her face then took a deep breath then sat down next to him. "So how did that trip go?" She asked.

"Not good." Lee told her.

"Why not? You didn't find anything?" She asked.

"No its not that I uh, you know September right?"

Linda was confused. "Yes?"

"Well this guy was trying to rob me and she just sprung up from behind and butchered him inside the car." He explained.

Linda's eye's widened. "Oh my God, I knew she was a little messed up but..."

"Well, she's in a dark place right now, Considering what she has been through." Lee said.

Linda stared at him unsure what to say.

_"Attention lunch starts early today, be in the loading bay room in fifteen minutes to get your second rations"_ Rebecca's announcements were much quieter now, they disconnected the outdoor speakers to avoid another herd hearing them.

"Well I'm going to go find Lily, I'll see you later, Lee." Linda left the store through the rear entrance towards the loading bay room. After a brief moment he was alone yet again. In a room filled with crates, and comic books, and very accurate depictions of corpses decorating the walls.

Lee eyed September's notebook he had dropped earlier and noticed it was opened to a page that didn't appear to have any drawing of a body. Lee got up and walked towards and looked down at it. It was a flower, just a flower. No corpses or severed heads, just a flower. Lee smiled and picked up the notebook. He carefully tore out the page and left the note book on the counter. He grabbed a thumb tack off the shelf beside the sleeping bags and hung the picture beside the door to the front, right next to her sleeping bag.

Lee noticed the calendar right beside where he had just placed September's drawing. It was the 15th of December, Bill managed to keep track of dates some how. "Well tomorrow Hanukkah starts, and Christmas is in a couple days." Lee said to himself. "I wonder if we might celebrate anything this month... Probably not." Lee got up and grabbed his backpack he often leaves on the shelf. He unzipped it and dug around until he found the item he was looking for. Some duck tape. "I should probably fix up my jacket." He said to himself while holding the duck tape in his only hand and then walking towards his jacket.

He first pulled the only full length sleeve close to him and examined the bite incantations.  
>"Looks like there's a bit of a rip here and there." Lee unwrapped some of the duck tape using his teeth and his only hand then wrapped it around the bite marks several times.<br>"That should reinforce it a little." Lee had consistently used his arm to protect himself from walkers but he often wondered whether or not he was immune or if severing his arm is what saved him, either way he wasn't going to test that idea anytime soon.

Lee forgot that September had gotten blood all over the front of the jacket and by doing so he got blood on his hand. He lazily wiped off his hand on his plain white T-shirt then put back on the jacket and belt. As he was zipping up his jacket September returned, this time not completely covered in blood. She was wearing a purple coat with baggy blue jeans and her hair was puffed up.  
>"Nice hair." Lee joked.<p>

She gave him an annoyed look.

"You got a comb anywhere?" She asked.

"I don't think so." Lee responded as she went through his backpack.  
>"Maybe Tavia has one." He suggested.<p>

"Does she LOOK like she would have a comb?" She replied.

"Fair point." Lee laughed.

"Well I can't just leave it like this!" She said while dumping out Lee's backpack.

Lee noticed a pair of scissors fall out of the backpack. "How about a hair cut?"

She stopped and eyed the scissors. "No way." She said.

"It'll be safer from walkers and easier to keep neat." She rolled her eyes.

"Have you ever even cut a little girl's hair before?" She asked.

"One time." He replied. Lee picked up the scissors from the mess she had just made. "Come on, it'll be fine."

She shrugged "If you say so." She sat down in the chair and then Lee began cutting.

"September?"

"Yeah?" She responded a little annoyed.

"Why did you do that to that man today?"

She thought about his question. "He was trying to steal the car."

Lee wasn't satisfied with that. "I would have been able to take care of it on my own." Lee assured her.

"Oh yeah? how?" She replied, skeptical.

"I always keep an extra gun on me." He replied.

"Oh well, it's over now, we might as well just forget about it." She told him.

"We can talk more about it later." He replied. After about three or four minutes of cutting her hair he nodded. "Well that should do." Lee assumed.

"I bet it looks ridiculous." She said. Her hair was tightly coiled like a slinky and appeared very fragile and soft, odd considering her personality.

"I didn't cut it too short. If you wanted to style it or something you still could I suppose." Lee said.

"Guess I can't complain then." She replied. "You like what I drew huh?" She said before running up to the drawing Lee hung up.

"It's a nice change." Lee said.

"Maybe the other pictures are a little repetitive." She admitted then turned to look at him. "You know what I want?" She asked.

"What?"

"I wan't some toast." She said.

"I don't think toast is a common day to day meal right now." Lee told her.

"Well that's what I want." She told him.

"We'll see, I can't make any promises." He told her. _"Well she's still talking nonsense but at least she hasn't mentioned anything concerning dead things, as though that even matters considering what she did today." _He thought.

"You should go get our food or something." She said ushering him away as you might a servant. Lee shrugged then walked towards his back door then towards the loading bay room. He saw a line of people being handed cans of food and some water bottles. Dean was passing out rations today it seemed. Lee got in line behind some guy with a receding hair-line. Lee looked around him to see strangers and familiar faces all around him sitting at picnic tables and sharing large cans of fruits and vegetables. As he shuffled his way in line he accidentally stepped on the man's shoe in front of him.

"Hey! come on, be more careful." The man said before turning to face him. "Oh, hey Lee." The man said.

"Hey Reggie, sorry about that." Lee said.

"That's alright, hey can I ask a question?" Reggie said.

"Sure." Lee replied.

"What is it like living with only one arm? If you don't mind me asking."

Lee thought about his question. "Its not too bad." Lee said.

"Huh, I can't even imagine me with only one arm." Reggie said.

Lee shrugged.

"Um excuse me but um you two are next." Dean said.

"Oh, right, sorry bout that." Reggie said.

The two approached Dean. "Here." Dean said while handing Reggie a large can and a bottled water.

"Thanks, Dean. See you later, Lee." Reggie said to them before walking away.

"So uh I'm here to get rations for both me and September." Lee said.

"Lee, I have to show you something." Dean said.

"Can it wait?" Lee asked.

"No." Dean said in a worried tone.

Lee sighed, "Okay what do you have to show me?"

Dean walked towards the rear exit of the store letting in a blast of cold air. "I need you to keep quiet about this." Dean said before lifting up his shirt and exposing a bite below his ribs.

Lee's eyes widened. "When did that happen?" Lee asked.

"This morning, what do I do? I know for a fact that you must have cured yourself somehow, right?" Dean asked him frantically.

"No, I just cut off the arm, but I did it too late based off of what I heard from the people here." Lee explained.

Dean put his hands on his head and started pacing. "What am I going to do? Am I going to die? I don't want to die. PLEASE help me, God, what if I already have the fever!?" Tears began to roll down his face.

"Dean calm down, Lets just think for a second." Lee said.

"Okay y-yeah yeah, we gotta think." Dean said.

"Okay so the bite doesn't make you turn only dying does." Lee said.

"So? the bite will kill me."

"Maybe its like a regular infection, if so all we need is antibiotics." Lee said.

"Is that it? is that how you survived it?" Dean asked with hopeful eyes.

"No." Lee said in a grave tone.

"I'm so fucked." Dean said.

"It's still worth a try, what do you have to lose? just go ask Carlos. Tell him it's for me, tell him that I reopened my arm and got an infection." Lee said.

"Alright, okay, good, it's worth a try." Dean said before rushing away. Lee sighed. After a few minutes Lee returned to his room with a bag containing his and September's daily food rations.

"Took you long enough." September said.

"Yeah, sorry." Lee said while placing the bag on the ground in front of September. Lee sat down in his chair by the counter and pulled out his snub nosed revolver. "September."

"Yeah?" "Here." Lee handed her the revolver.

"You might need it for tonight."

"Sounds neat!" She proclaimed excitedly while examining the gun.

"Please be careful with that." Lee said.

"So who am I gonna shoot?" She asked.

"Hopefully nobody but it could happen, you know Dean?"

"The wimp?"

"He got bit, I have an idea that might save his life, but if it doesn't you need to be able to protect yourself."

"Okay then." She said. Dean came running through the door with the antibiotics.

"Slow down, Dean." Lee said.

"S-sorry I'm just a little paranoid."

"Just take one for right now." Lee said.

"You think that'll be enough?"

"I don't know, Just take one and that's it."

"Alright." Dean said.

Dean took off the top of the bottle then took one out and placed it on his tongue then took a big gulp of water from his water bottle. September smiled and began staring at Dean devilishly while spinning the cylinder of the revolver. Lee sighed. A few hours later the sun had gone down. Lee was watching Dean sitting with his arms around his legs staring motionlessly at the ground in the corner of the room. September was drawing yet another picture but this one seemed to be taking some time to finish. Lee had his pistol well in hand, ready to kill Dean. Lee could sense that Dean knew this.

Later on that cold winter night. September had fallen asleep, Dean was wide awake, you could tell by the look in his eyes. Lee felt himself tiring rapidly. He fought to stay awake but he eventually fell asleep, head against the cold counter.

_Clementine began shaking and saying: "No." repeatedly. Lee began to call her name in an attempt to wake her up. _

_"Clem, Clem, Clementine." He said waking her up, startling her in the process. _

_She got used to the light and said: "Lee?" confused. _

_"It was just a bad dream, sweet pea... What was it about? Duck?" Lee asked. _

_"He's bit" she said. _

_"We don't know how this works yet. Maybe it's like a cold. His mom's a doctor, maybe she can help him." Lee said. _

_"It's not like a cold." Clementine replied. _

_"No it's probably not." There was a brief silence. _

_"I feel bad." Clementine said. _

_"Why?" Lee asked. _

_"I called him a crybaby when I hid the bug in his pillow." She told him with guilt. _

_"Aw, that's okay honey, you didn't mean it." There was another brief silence. _

_"Lee?" _

_"Hm?" _

_"Why did Lily do that to Carly?" She asked. _

_"I don't know... She was sad, Clem, that can make people angry sometimes." He said. _

_"Because of her dad?" She asked. _

_"Yeah." Clementine looked out the window. "Clem, people don't always make sense." _

_"How come?" She asked turning back to him. _

_"Cuz bad things happen to everyone, and its hard to keep being yourself after they do." She thought about that. "What do you think? should we have left her behind?" He asked. _

_"No." She said. _

_"Maybe we should have, I don't know... I don't know if we did the right thing." _

_"How can you tell?" _

_"Well its not like math, Clem, sometimes there just isn't a right answer." _

_"I hate math." _

_"Ha, me too, sweet pea." Lee's smile went away. "A part of growing up is doing whats best for the people you care about, even if sometimes, that means hurting someone else." _

_"I don't want to hurt anyone." _

_"It's not that easy." _

_"I'm scared, Lee..." _

_"What can I tell you to make it better?" _

_She thought about his question. "That you won't leave me." _

_"Oh I wouldn't do that, I promise. Everything is gonna be alright." Lee said. Clementine began weeping. Lee gave her a warm smile then she went back to laying against his side. "Now lets try to get some sleep." _

_"Okay, Lee." With that The two fell asleep._

Lee awoke to see nobody was laying on his side, he sighed. September was still asleep on her sleeping bag. Suddenly Lee heard moaning coming from behind the counter. Lee was confused, however he quickly realized what had happened and his eyes widened.

The pill bottle was empty.

**Author's Note: Finally I got some feedback telling me what I did wrong. I have a "Lee Quota" Apparently, I'm not sure what that means. For this chapter I wanted to reveal more about how September's mental state was worsening with a demonstration. So I guess I'll try even harder to pay more attention to other characters in the story and less on the protagonist. I'm going to make a time jump in hopefully this next chapter. And I do not think Jane is similar to September at all. Jane hated killing people and September enjoyed it. If September was similar to anyone it would be Nate. At least I know now that Lee was being Idolized too much or so I think. I Google searched "Character quota" and didn't get anything so I'm not too sure what I did. Oh well no harm done.**


	8. Fight or Flight

Lee slowly got up from his chair and with his gun in hand he aimed towards the counter. The moaning stopped, Lee was unsure if Dean was already dead or dying.

"Dean?", Lee called in a hushed voice, there was no response. Lee slowly made his way around the counter, sliding one foot pass the other carefully. Once Lee was around the side he could see Dean laying motionless against the counter. "Dean?", Lee tried but was met with silence yet again. He aimed the gun directly at Dean's forehead as he slowly made his way towards him. Lee bent down and poked Dean with the gun. Dean snapped up with his penetrating eyes, he had pale skin and what looked like rashes. He looked at Lee for a split second before throwing himself towards him growling loudly.

Lee pulled the trigger blasting a hole straight through his forehead, dark blood sprayed out of his head and poured onto the ground after he collapsed. Lee felt his heart racing, he was breathing rapidly. September sprang up and rushed towards Lee then turned to look down at Dean.

"I wish I could have done it, why didn't you wake me up?", She said in a disappointed tone.

Bill, Tavia, and a few other survivors came rushing into the store. AK-47's aimed towards Lee and September. "Lee, what the fuck is going on?!", Bill demanded.

"Dean turned and I had to shoot him.", Lee explained.

"Is that right? And what happened before he turned? Can you tell me that?"

Lee put away his pistol and picked up the empty antibiotics bottle. "He was bit so we decided to try medicine, it looks like he overdosed, I woke up and found him as a walker."

Bill gave Lee a grave look. "Are you really this fucking stupid? don't you think we would have tried medicine already?", Bill said.

Lee looked at Dean's motionless body then back to the six armed people in front of him. "What was I suppose to do? shoot him?", Lee questioned.

"No, let's just risk the entire camp with a bullshit plan that wouldn't have worked in the first place. You put us all at risk with your incompetence and you must pay the price. There isn't anything else to discuss at this point.", Bill handed his gun to Tavia and advanced towards Lee, fists balled.

"September, get out of here, now.", Lee ordered. She nodded and ran towards the front entrance.

Lee turned back to Bill only to be met with a punch to the cheek then the chest, Lee held his stomach in pain.

"How was that?", Bill said before kicking Lee back.

Lee fell and held his chest in pain. "I'm not you're enemy, Bill!", Lee let out in agony.

"No?", Bill began punching Lee repeatedly while he was down. Tavia flinched at the sight. "Get up, Get the fuck up!", Bill ordered while trying to pull him up. Lee stumbled to his feet and wiped blood from his face. He saw Bill swing to punch him yet again but dodged then gave him an uppercut knocking him back. One of the male survivors approached Lee aiming his weapon at him. "Back off, hes mine.", Bill said before spitting blood then charging at him again.

Lee stepped aside and grabbed Bill's right arm before he could hit him, then sweep kicked his right leg causing Bill to go tumbling down face-first. Lee mounted himself on Bill's back and grabbed his hair and began bashing his head into the tile three times before one of the other survivors pulled him off of him. Bill began coughing on his hands and knees then slowly standing and turning to look at Lee. His nose was broken and his forehead was bleeding. He stumbled towards Lee, the others backed away from the two. Bill gave him a menacing look before slowly walking towards him. Lee was breathing heavily, he raised his arm into a fighting stance as best he could.

Bill pulled a knife from his coat pocket and clutched it as he made his way towards Lee. Lee eyed it and considered pulling out his gun but that would only cause the others to step in and very likely kill him, he was going to have to beat him unarmed and with only one arm. Lee began moving around him in an attempt to keep him from being cornered. Bill sliced at Lee horizontally hitting Lee's jacket but not enough to actually harm him due to the thickness of the jacket. Lee saw him lung again this time he grabbed his wrist, stopping his attack. Bill added his other arm and began using all his strength to pull down in an attempt to kill Lee. Lee felt his arm weaken and the knife edged ever closer to him.

Lee kicked him in the groin causing him to grunt in pain and lessen his weight on the knife. Lee utilized this opportunity to charge Bill into the ground he rested his left knee on Bill's right arm while repeatedly beat Bill's hand into the tile until he broke his hand, releasing the knife in the process. Bill screamed in agony, but his cry of pain was cut short by a barrage of punches, he used the side of his palm then his knuckles in a swinging motion from one to the other. The others chose not to intervene this time. After several hits Lee He gave him one last strike to the cheek then climbed off of him and stumbled back looking down at Bill coughing with blood and bruises all across his face.

"IT'S OVER!", Lee yelled, enraged.

Bill turned to Tavia, coughing. "Kill this bastard!", He yelled at her weakly and angrily. She was unsure but she slowly aimed at Lee.

Lee raised his hand at her. "Please.", He pleaded, looking her straight in the eyes.

"Okay, everyone put you're fucking guns down!", Someone yelled from behind. Everyone turned to see who it was, It was Nate and he had a female hostage.

"Let me go!", The distressed woman yelled.

"Do not make me kill her! everyone put you guns down, NOW!", Nate yelled. September entered the room carrying a backpack and aimed the snub nosed revolver towards Tavia and the others. Lee watched, confused.

Bill still unable to stand said: "Do as he says.", in a defeated tone. All five of them dropped their AK-47's. September collected the magazines and placed them in the backpack then picked up the sixth one and aimed it at Tavia, she frowned.

"Very nice, everyone, you DO know how to follow instructions.", Nate said.

"Nate?", Lee asked.

"Not now, Lee, I'm saving you're ass.", Nate said. "Alright listen up, Miss Allison is going to hop in my truck and we are going to take her a few blocks away before releasing her. If we are followed she will get a bullet to the temple, do I make myself clear?", Nobody spoke. "I'll take that as a yes, get against the wall, now.", He ordered, Tavia helped Bill to his feet then the six of them lined up against the wall. "Lets get going, Lee.", Nate said before dragging the woman towards the frontal exit. Lee shook his head then pulled his pistol from its holster. Once they were outside Nate pointed the gun at the woman who was now tearing up and said: "Do not move a muscle.", Then he stomped on the supports that were holding up the wooden barricades.

Then he pushed it forward. "Okay, now we have to run to my truck it's just around the corner, lets go.", With that the four people ran towards the truck several walkers began to intercept them. Nate shot down two of them and kept going the hostage panicked and ran back into the warehouse. "Fuck! now we gotta hurry.", Nate said. September was falling behind due to the weight of the backpack and the gun. Lee grabbed her up and carried her on his side. Before they knew it they were already near the truck. Nate frantically swung open his door and started up the truck. Lee tossed September into the back then hopped in also.

"LET'S GO!", Lee yelled.

Nate accelerated as fast as he could leaving tire smoke behind them, September and Lee fell back due to Nate's driving speed. After a few seconds Howe's was out of sight. Lee sighed. September began laughing hysterically as they both sat back up. Lee just sat there staring at the stolen boxes of supplies before him.

"Guess you're pretty lucky we showed up when we did huh?" September said, it was cold enough that Lee could see her breath.

Lee looked at her with bruised cheeks and a black eye and smiled. "Thank you." He said. Nate slowed down to below eighteen miles per hour and things were peaceful from there on. Lee examined his knuckles in the early morning light. They were bloody and bruised. He cringed in pain whenever he moved his fingers.

September noticed this and unzipped her backpack and pulled out peroxide and rolled bandages. "How about we see how loud you can scream like a little girl?", She said.

Lee held out his hand. "Says the little girl."

She ignored that and took the top off the peroxide and held it above the open gashes in his knuckles. She slowly began to tip the bottle however Nate hit a bump in the road and she spilled plenty of peroxide onto his hand. Lee jolted in pain and let out a screech. September began to laugh at him simply shook in pain. "Okay, it's not that bad let's get it covered up.", She insisted.

"God...", He said while shaking.

She then began to roll the bandages around his hand several times then tied it shut. "Guess I won't be much use for awhile with this hand how it is.", Lee said while examining it.

"You must have really fucked him up huh?", She said.

Lee rested his arm down on his lap and said: "Hey don't swear okay?", She just shrugged. Lee thought back to what had just happened, remembering the whole thing in his head. "I guess I just sort of.. lost control.", He said.

"Wow, Lee, and you think I'M crazy?", She joked.

"Yeah, to those people back there, we must look like the people who supposedly killed Dean, stole their supplies, beat their leaders face in, and took a hostage" Lee shook his head at the thought.

"Well, we didn't do it alone" She said.

"What do you mean?"

"Stewart, Linda, and Lily helped us get the truck and the supplies ready. They all said to tell you goodbye and that they hope you find Clementine." She explained.

Lee smiled. "Really?" He asked.

"Yeah, and uh, Lily said to make sure you told Clementine she said 'hello'."

Lee sat motionless, thinking back to the friends he made and lost along the way. "So where do you think we should go?" Lee asked.

"I wanna go home to get something." She replied.

"Where do you live?" Lee asked.

"An apartment in Atlanta." She replied.

Lee raised an eyebrow at her. "Atlanta?" He asked.

"Yeah, I left something there." She said.

"Would it be worth all the risk of going through the most overrun city in Georgia?" Lee questioned.

"I don't know..." She said with a disappointed look on her face.

Lee shook his head. "Well, there might be a way we can get this done." He said.

"How?"

"We cover our selves in their blood and walk straight through." He told her.

"And that works?" She asked.

"I've done it myself." He told her. She smiled then it was quiet for several minutes. Eventually Nate pulled over next to an empty, snow covered Cadillac. Nate opened his door it creaked loudly and thudded when he shut it. He approached the side of the truck and leaned forward against it, resting on his elbows.

"So, where should we go?" Nate asked. Lee looked at September then back to Nate.

"Atlanta." He said.

"Okay, I'll ask again: where should we go?"

"You can stay far from the city, we have a plan for entering the city safely." Lee told him.

"Whatever, either way I've got plenty of supplies, even more if you do die, but still I can't see why I risked my ass for you back there if you're just going to commit suicide anyway."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Lee said.

"Uh huh, by the way there are two perfectly good seats waiting for you up front." Nate said while turning and opening his truck door. Lee and September climbed out of the truck and got in front with Nate. September sat between them, Lee kept an eye on the horizon ahead. He saw cars resting off the side of the road, covered in snow, he turned to look out his window, he saw the sun slowly rising through the treeline. Eventually the tree line ended after several minutes, there was a wooden chain linked fence and beyond that there was a large open snow covered field. Lee could see the silhouettes of what appeared to be walkers in the distance. They were slower than usual.

"Well Macon's about ten minutes away." Nate said.

"Well, Nate, are we going to Macon? or Atlanta?" September asked sarcastically.

"I don't know, kid, because at this rate there might not be a 'we'." Nate said coldly then continued to stare straight ahead, September shrugged. "What exactly are we getting from Atlanta anyway? You're dolly? Maybe some pretty pictures of mommy and daddy?" Nate said in a mocking tone.

"No." She replied.

"Maybe your blanket? Your parents are dead, kid, get over it." Nate said.

September looked down at her sneakers and began shaking angrily, clutching the seat.

"Okay, Nate, we can just go back to sitting in the back." Lee said.

"Best idea you've had all day." Nate said while pulling over.

Lee opened the truck door and took September's hand and helped her out of the truck then they both climbed into the back Lee on the left side, September on the right. September continued to shake and stare blankly ahead. The truck started up again.

Lee stared at September as she shook with that blank expression on her face. "September." She didn't respond. "Nate might say things to hurt you but I'm sure he didn't mean it." Lee tried again to no avail. "I think Nate has been through a lot too, he is probably just trying to block out any pain the walker's might have caused him. He is sarcastic, taunting, and overly confident, and often cruel. But on the inside it might not be a similar story, sound familiar?"

September lifted her head up, "We are nothing alike." She said quietly.

"Of course, but you're both alive." He said.

She looked towards Nate as he drove. "I don't like him." She said.

"I don't like him either. But lets just cut him some slack." Lee suggested.

She turned back to Lee and said: "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" Lee asked.

"How did you meet Clementine?"

"I was running away from walkers and went into her house to look for help."

She nodded. "Do you remember the first thing she ever said to you?"

Lee thought about this question, trying to recall. "She thought I was her dad at first." Lee said. "Where did you live in Atlanta?" Lee asked.

"Heritage station apartments." She said.

McDaniel Street Atlanta, two hours later. Lee and September were walking through the devastated and overrun streets of Atlanta. They had on blue rain ponchos covered in the blood of a walker. As they made their way through the snow covered herd September tugged on Lee's arm and tilted her head in the direction of the Heritage station apartments. Lee nodded, they made their way through the parking lot and up to the entrance to the large complex that was four stories high and consisted of brick exterior walls. Lee pushed open the broken glass door with September close behind. The check in counter had several walkers surrounding it. Lee continued to lead, they found a staircase that appeared to be clear of walkers, but very dark also. They began to make their way up the stairs still seeing no walkers around each flight of stairs.

"Its on the second floor." September whispered.

"Room sixty seven." Lee confirmed in a hushed voice. They carefully climbed the stairs peeking around every corner, they made their way up the last set of stairs when a walker fell and came tumbling down towards them. Lee didn't move fast enough and the walker fell right on top of him causing him to fall down a few steps of stairs. Once he hit the floor at the foot of the stairs he fell from he grunted in pain. The walker heard this and turned and began moving towards him. September was ahead of the walker and quickly jammed a knife into the back of its head.

"Thanks." Lee whispered while slowly and cautiously getting up off the ground. September looked to the top of the stairs and saw no walkers paying attention. "No problem." She said while pulling the knife out of the walker's head. Lee took the lead up the stairs yet again, this time they made it onto the second floor. There were fewer walkers on the second floor. September walked ahead of Lee and led him to room sixty seven. September grabbed the door knob and attempted to turn it but found that it was locked.

"Just our luck." Lee said quietly.

"Maybe we could break it open?" September suggested in a similar volume.

"Might be the only choice." Lee assumed while backing up. There was maybe a couple of dozen walkers in the hallway, the chances of them being discovered were very good.

Lee exhaled, he could see his breath, he could feel an uneasy feeling in his chest similar to when he cut off his arm. He didn't know what was causing him to risk so much for such little gain. He took stance, ready to bust open the door, ready to possibly die for whatever was in that room.

He stopped, and sighed. "This isn't safe, we need to come up with a better plan." Lee said.

September rolled her eyes.

Lee began to look around the hall for anything he could use to get through the door quietly and easily. A female walker passed by them wearing black dress pants and a black button up shirt. "She might have a key." September whispered.

"How do you know?"

"That is the outfit the staff used to wear when I lived here."

Lee nodded, "See if you can get it from her, carefully." Lee said.

Without speaking she followed the walker with her left hand outstretched.

She disappeared from Lee's sight, _"Come on, September." _Lee thought feeling stressed every second she was gone.

He would have tried to do it himself if his only hand wasn't so badly damaged. Lee considered going after her but decided to put faith in her and be patient. After a minute of waiting she returned with a sinister grin on her face. Lee felt relieved. She used the staff key to open the door to her former home. They quickly entered and shut the door behind them. The apartment seemed completely untouched, there was some dust here and there but it looked like your average four room apartment.

September ran off to the living room, Lee followed her, happy to finally see what it was she wanted from this place. She stopped and stood in front of her coffee table.

"Well?" Lee said.

She bent over and picked up what looked like a flower. Lee got a closer look and it was a picture of her family with a soft red flower like frame.

"Is that what you wanted?" Lee asked.

September didn't reply, she just kept staring at the picture.

Lee turned to check the door.

"My mom made this." She said.

Lee stood silent.

"She told me that as long as I had my family, I'd always be home." A tear fell from her face and landed on the picture. Lee put his hand on her shoulder, she nudged away from him and began shaking angrily. "Why didn't I do more?" She asked while gritting her teeth.

"You did all you could." Lee told her.

"No, I didn't, and you know it. You know how to put others before yourself, just look at you." She snapped in frustration.

"They died so that you could live. The fact that you're still alive shows that you did all you could for them." Lee said.

She didn't respond.

"Come on, let's go." Lee said while kneeling down to her level.

She turned and hugged him tightly. "Thank you for helping me get this far." She said.

"Your welcome." Lee said while patting her back. With that they made their way to the door.


	9. Tunnel Hill

Day 228. Tunnel hill, GA, just below the border of Tennessee. Three months since Howe's. 10:34 PM.

Lee examined his knuckles using the large lantern that sat in the middle of the train tunnel. Lee Nate and September managed to block off both sides of a small tunnel with large wooden planks, two doors were built on both sides. "Looks pretty much healed up to me..." Lee said to himself. He turned to check on September. She was lying prone while reading a civil war history book with a flashlight. "Where did you get that?"

"In that house we scavenged through yesterday, the one with the confederate flag by the door." She answered in an uninterested tone without looking up from the book.

"That reminds me..." Lee said while pulling his duffel bag closer to himself then unzipping it.

"What?" She asked curiously, tossing the book aside then crawling closer towards him, excitement in her eyes.

"I found this today, thought you would need it." He pulled out a small blue leather jacket with buttons for the collar and wrists.

September slumped forward while being handed the jacket, "Oh, okay. Thanks." She said while dropping it and unzipping her old worn out purple jacket.

Lee wasn't bothered by her opinion of the jacket. He then turned to check on Nate. He was standing by the white door which was facing north of the train tracks that went through their camp. The door was on the very right of the wooden wall, built into the stone side of the tunnel. "Nate, you alright, pal?"

"just thinking... Maybe we should move north." Nate said while turning to face Lee while scratching his short beard.

Lee stood up, "How come? Seems like we're doing just fine."

Nate leaned against the stone wall, taking his hat off, "Because this is fucking boring." Nate said in an agitated voice, "Hey, kid. You like living like a bunch of homeless people?"

September buttoned her collar, "Are you serious?" She said with an intone while turning to look at him.

"Why the hell not?" Nate said while presenting his palms to them and lifting his shoulders.

Lee shook his head in a 'this guy can't be serious' fashion. "Okay, Nate. Where do you wanna go?"

"How about North Dakota?"

September scoffed. "How about no?"

"How about shut up?" Nate said, mocking her voice while tilting his head to the right. She simply rolled her eyes. "So what do you say, Lee?"

"Nate, do you know how far that is?" He asked.

"Do you know how much alcohol we can find there?" Nate said in a casually excited voice. "Think about it, Lee. You and me in America's number one state for alcohol."

"I don't think I like that idea." Lee said calmly while Nate began to give him a grave look. "I'm sure there are plenty of drug stores to turn over here in Georgia."

Nate balled up his fists, "We. Are. Going. To. North. Da. Fucking. kota." His said putting emphasis on every word.

"No, Nate. We aren't, you can if you want to." Lee said never taking him seriously the whole time. "No one is making you stay here."

Nate tried, "Lee I-" Before being cut off.

"Its settled, Nate." Lee said before sitting back down, September began to chuckle.

Nate calmed down and began shaking his hand next to his head with his index finger pointed, "Oh, I see whats going on here."

They tried ignoring him.

"You've chosen this little shit over your best friend, huh?" Nate said while crouching down between them. "Ever heard of 'bro's befo-"

"Nate." Lee interrupted.

"What?" Nate asked in an agitated voice.

Lee pulled a bottle of whiskey out of his duffel bag and handed it to him. "How about a drink?"

Nate eyed the bottle with a smile. "Yeah, okay, we can do that." Nate sat down and examined the whiskey bottle. "Jack Daniels." He said before unscrewing the top and taking a large gulp.

"Better?" Lee joked.

Nate gulped down a good amount of whiskey and then took a deep breath, "Much." He said before handing the bottle to Lee.

Lee eyed the bottle. It reminded him of chuck, how such simple advice's had been so crucial. "Sure." Lee said while taking the bottle and having a quick sip.

"Good stuff right?" Nate said in a much lighter tone than before.

September shook her head, "Are you sure its such a good idea to be drinking?"

Lee quickly replied before Nate could come back with a disrespectful comment. "It'll be okay."

She shrugged then got up and laid down on her cot bed.

Nate frowned, "That kid just does not seem to know to be quiet when the adults are talking."

"Really?" Lee asked while placing the bottle down.

"Yeah." Nate said while staring at the lantern. "You know what?"

"What?"

"I had a dog, once." He said before picking up the whiskey bottle and taking another sip.

"What was this dog's name?" Lee asked, taking interest in this topic assuming he could learn something about Nate.

Nate wiped his mouth having spilled some whiskey. "I named him Sam. He was a dumb dog, but I did manage to teach him to play catch."

"What happened to him?"

"I'm not too sure. I gave him to a friend. That asshole probably forgets to feed him." Nate stared up, lost in thought. "Forget the chick flick moment. We got booze."

"So, Nate, where were you before you gave me that ride?"

"I was driving. And before that I had a large group."

"What happened to them?"

"They all pretty much died." Nate yawned then laid back on his hands. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm gonna sleep now."

"Yeah that's probably a good idea." Lee grabbed the half empty whiskey bottle and placed it back in the duffel bag, then he laid down next to it and fell asleep.

The next morning...

Nate pushed on Lee's shoulder in an attempt to wake him up. "Lee!" Nate tried in a quiet but sharp voice. "Wake the fuck up!"

"What is-" Lee said before having Nate's palm cover his mouth. Lee could hear indistinct talking and the rattling of the door.

"Shh!... there are some guys trying to get that door open, I don't think they know we're here yet."

Lee got to his feet, "Maybe we could just talk to them."

"I don't think so, these guys smell like trouble to me." Nate said while aiming his AK-47 at the shaking door.

"Alright, what do you wanna do?"

"Well we've got bullets."

Lee shook his head then quickly pulled his pistol out from its holster. "Well let's hope this is the right choice. Wheres September?"

"Shes still sleeping."

"Wake her up, quick."

"The fuck good is she?"

"Just do it."

Nate gave a look of annoyance then quickly ran over and shook her awake. Lee kept his aim at the door. A moment later September and Nate ran back beside him and took aim.

"Let's just try talking to them first, maybe they're friendly." Lee said.

"Yeah, we all remember what happened last time we trusted a stranger." Nate said in an agitated but quiet voice.

"This is different, last time you tried to run some kid over." Lee stood up and began to approach the door that was close to being broken open.

"Lee, they don't know we're here. think about whats at stake here, you, me, this girl, and your chances of finding that Clementine girl."

Lee stopped in his tracks, unsure what to do. What are his chances of finding Clementine? Then again what are his chances of survival. Either option could cause their deaths.

"Fuck all that, the world isn't over yet. the reason why so many people die now is because we've lost our trust."

September shook her head. "Its too risky, Lee I-" She was cut off by the door being kicked open. Everyone turned, guns pointed forward. They could see several silhouettes in the doorway.

"Hello?" A stranger called into the dark cave.

"We don't want any trouble." Lee called.

The people standing outside raised their guns.

"Don't shoot!" Lee yelled.

"Too late!" Nate said before raising his gun and firing several rounds in all directions including through the wall, September followed in firing her snub nosed revolver rounds. In the blink of an eye all that could be heard was the sound of gunshots. Lee, Nate and September instantly got down onto the ground, prone while firing. Lee could see at least two people had fallen to the ground outside. There were several bullet holes in the boarded wall. After a couple of seconds the gunshots ceased.

"Be on your guard." Lee whispered before crawling towards the entrance, once he reached the open door he peaked out to see five deceased bodies of what looked like soldiers. "What the?" Lee said before standing straight up and heading outside.

"What is it?" September called to him while running outside with Nate following just behind.

"We just killed members of the military." Lee said.

Nate scoffed. "You told them that you didn't want any trouble and what did they do? they shot at us, don't lose too much sleep."

Lee stared down seeing four men and one woman wearing tan T-shirts and military combat pants and boots now covered in blood and bullet holes. Nate took his knife from his pocket he then bent down and stabbed the female straight in the head. Lee sighed as he watched September join in.

"Doesn't look like they have too much on them. Maybe they have a camp or some cars not too far from here." Nate inferred.

"And probably more soldiers." September added.

"Even so, we might find some good supplies." Nate said while searching through one of the male soldier's pockets finding a few bullets. "You in, Lee? or are you going to disagree with us again?"

"I guess if you two are going, I am too." Lee said.

"About time you grew some balls." Nate said before taking the lead down the train tracks, the temperature had risen and the walkers had began to get faster again, so they had to hurry before any walkers reached their camp. After a few minutes of walking quietly ahead through the tree line they could see a road.

"Maybe they came in a jeep or something." September said.

"We'll see." Lee replied. Once they reached the road they looked down both sides but they discovered to the left was a large military six wheeled truck with a tarp on the back.

"Looks like we hit the jackpot." Nate said. A woman opened the driver's side door and climbed out from behind the steering wheel. The three looked at each other, unsure.

"Hi there!" The woman yelled to them as she jogged up to them.

"Hello!" Lee yelled back. Once she was a few feet in front of them she stopped, she was very light skinned woman with dark red hair who was maybe in her mid thirties.

"You folks look pretty weathered, how have the dead been treating you?" She said in a country accent. "What're your names?"

"I'm Lee and this is Nate and September."

"Hey." September greeted, Nate kept his arms crossed.

"Good to meet you all." She said with a smile. "Have you all by any chance seen my people anywhere?" Lee turned to look at Nate and September they were as unsure how to answer as he was. "Look, if something happened, you can tell me."

"We saw them." Lee said. She looked at him with worried eye. "They're dead." Her eyes widened and she put her hands on her forehead.

"Oh my God... what would've..." She said, obviously shocked by the news. "Where are they?"

"At our camp." Lee said.

"Then that must mean..."

"We were defending ourselves." September added.

"God I knew this would happen... Well, this isn't the first time they did this. I'm so stupid I should have gone too." The woman said. "Jan was always taking things from people."

"Whats your name?" Lee asked.

"Mallory." She said, without making eye contact, still processing what she had just heard.

"Mallory I'm sorry, We tried our best to avoid it."

"Its okay, it wasn't your fault. Would you please show me them?"

"Are you sure?" Lee asked.

"Its not the first time I've seen my friends dead." She said a sad tone.

"Alright." Lee said before turning towards the tracks and leading the group towards the tunnel. "Where were you when this all started?"

"We were stationed up in Atlanta but they never told us they were bombing the city. I nearly lost my life." She looked over her shoulder to September. "I'll bet you've seen plenty of terrible things."

"Maybe." September said.

"Where were you when this happened, Lee?" Mallory asked.

"I was on my way to prison." She suddenly looked nervous. Nate smacked his forehead in disbelief that he would reveal such a thing to a stranger.

"What did you do?" She asked.

"I uh killed someone."

"Oh, uh well I guess now it doesn't matter. We've seen way worse things happen nowadays."

"I'm not so sure

"Well, I don't know. I think who we were matters."

"I think who we ARE matters. The past is gone, its time to move forward." She said. "At least, that's what my mamma used to tell me."

"I really appreciate that." Lee was confused as to why she was so calm after hearing her friends were dead.

"See that tunnel straight ahead? that is where we met your friends." Nate said with a grin. The four of them silently walked towards the deceased soldiers. Two walkers had found the bodies and were feasting on them.

"We were only gone a few minutes." September said, confused as to why walkers were showing up.

"The gunshots were pretty loud, and I think they can smell the dead." Lee told her. Mallory pulled a combat knife out from her right pocket. One of the walkers got up and and made its way towards her, mouth and hands covered in blood, limping ever so close to her. She quickly and furiously stabbed the bald, male walker straight in the center of the forehead then quickly pulled it out.

"Not bad, but I think I can top it." Nate said while pulling his pocket knife out and while holding it by the blade he pulled his arm back and chucked it at the second incoming walker, stabbing it right in the eye. "Damn! did you see that, Lee? how was that?" Nate turned to see Mallory simply staring down at her friends, emotionless.

"I told them it was wrong, what they were doing." Mallory said. She then turned to look at Lee. "We should bury em."

"Well, if you wanna start digging, go ahead." Nate said.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, we should probably get our supplies and go. More and more of the dead are gonna show up before long." Lee said.

"Why not hide in the tunnel until they clear out?" Mallory said.

"Your friends are going to be walker chow by the time they clear out, IF they clear out." Nate said with arms crossed.

"Please stop treating them like that. You already killed them." Mallory said calmly. Nate didn't reply, he simply looked away without a care.

"Would it be okay if we burned them?" Lee asked.

"I guess there isn't really a choice at this point." Mallory said with much sorrow in her voice. She pulled her pistol from her holster and began to aim it at her head.

"Whoa, hold on now." Lee said. September stood, trying not to smile. Nate didn't really show that it bothered him much.

"Id probably be dead had I gone with them anyway, might even be dead tomorrow, who knows." Mallory said before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then she opened her eyes and looked up at the trees. She began to slowly pull the trigger. Lee began to slowly move towards her. Nate ran towards her from behind and kicked the pistol out of her hand before she could fire. It landed a few feet in front of her.

"I don't think that's such a good idea." Nate said in a casual tone. Mallory held her hand, her ring, middle, index finger were red from Nate's kick.

"It was my choice." Mallory stated in a low tone. For a few moments nobody spoke.

"Look!" September yelled pointing towards the way they just came from. Several walkers were both gathering onto the tracks from the left tree line and the right and making their way towards them.

"Quick! inside!" Lee yelled grabbing Mallory's arm. Everyone made their way into the tunnel, September grabbed Mallory's pistol and was the last to enter the tunnel. Lee quickly attempted to shut the door but found that it was broken due to the actions of Mallory's friends.

"Now they're going to be eaten." Mallory said in a panicked voice, putting both her hands on the sides of her head.

"They're going to get in, we can't stay here!" September said while packing various items into her small backpack.

"My truck is just through the other door, I say we just hightail it out of here." Nate suggested before putting the duffel bag over his shoulder and resting it on his back then picking up his AK-47. "Well, come on if you're coming." Nate said while making his way towards the southern tunnel entrance.

"Nate's right, we gotta move." Lee said just about to follow Nate's lead.

"What about her?" September asked. Mallory was on her knees staring straight at the tracks. Walkers had already begun to tear apart the bodies that were just outside. A sea of walkers could be seen through the many bullet holes that had been shot through the wooden planks.

"Mallory! come on we gotta move!" Lee yelled to her.

"You're right." She before she turned towards where her friends were and walked out into the light of day and was grabbed by two walkers and pulled to the ground behind the wall, a second later Lee could hear her screams of agony. He shut his eyes and put his hand on his forehead.

"Damn it..." He whispered.

"Lee! Come on!" September yelled as a walker made its way into the tunnel. Lee quickly turned and ran out the other door.

"Here, you're driving." Nate said while giving Lee his keys. Lee quickly ran to the truck and hopped behind the wheel. He placed the keys into the ignition and turned them, the truck hesitated to start.

"Come on! start!" Lee yelled. after a few seconds the truck started. Lee shifted to drive then looked ahead to see several walkers covering the train tracks. Nate banged on the roof.

"Just go already!" Nate yelled. Lee pushed the gas pedal and began hitting walkers. Nate had been standing while firing his AK-47 at the incoming walkers, reducing the number of walkers that had formed in front of them. Once Lee saw an opening he honked his horn and Nate got down and he pushed the pedal all the way down, the needle to the speedometer began climbing past 40 mph hitting several walkers, the truck bounced whenever one was crushed under the tires, one of which hit the bumper then slid off the right side of the hood. After a couple of seconds they had escaped the crowd of walkers.

"Man..." Lee said, still hyped with adrenaline. He slowed the truck down to a reasonable speed. "Where are we gonna go now?" Lee said to himself while staring ahead. After five minutes of driving he found the road they were on before they found the tunnel , he turned right on it then, eventually, he took another right. After close to seven minutes of driving he made one final right turn.

"There it is." Lee said while driving towards the large 6-ton military truck. He pulled up behind it and got out. "Think we should take this truck?"

"Nope, that piece of shit is too loud and probably uses too much gas." Nate said before hopping out of the back of the truck and approaching the much larger military truck. "Besides, we aren't abandoning my truck on the side of the road." He said as he climbed the ladder to the back of the truck.

"Apparently these guys were more like bandits than soldiers." Lee said.

"They were pretty good bandits, then." Nate said as he looked through the tarp of the truck.

"They've got supplies?" Lee asked.

"Check this out." Nate pulled out a large green army bag which had several military grade assault rifles sticking out of it.

"I think I would be more excited if I could actually use one of those." Lee said.

"Don't worry I'm sure there's something in here for you." Nate tossed the bag down to Lee. Lee caught it then tossed it into Nate's truck. "I don't think you can just catch any of these crates."

"I'll help." September said.

"If you say so." Nate said in a nonchalant tone before carefully handing down a small crate it fell six inches before she caught it. She grunted and began to carry it towards the back of the truck. Lee stared at his only hand and sighed. Nate pulled another gun bag out and whistled to Lee. "Hey, don't worry about it pal."

"Sure." Lee said as Nate tossed the gun bag down. "You know, it might be a bit easier if you and September switched jobs."

"I guess you're right, wanna switch jobs kid?"

"Sounds good." She said as Nate climbed out of the truck.

"So where do you wanna go now?" Nate asked.

"Hopefully not North Dakota." Lee said.

"Seriously."

"Do you think walkers can swim?"

"So the coast then?"

"Yeah, I've got a good feeling about the coast."

"Hey! can we hurry up? those walkers could turn this way at anytime." September said while tossing down a crate. Nate barely caught it. This process continued for a couple of minutes until nothing remained to be taken. "Okay, that's it."

"Well then let's go, getting boring around here really fast." Nate said while getting into his truck. September climbed out of the truck and made her way to the passengers side door.

"Lee?" September called. Lee was staring up at the clear blue sky. "What is it?" She asked.

"Nothing, just thought I heard something." Lee turned and began to walk towards the truck.

"You like birds or something?" September asked Lee as she buckled her seat belt.

"Getting kinda of tired of sitting next to the kid, Lee." Nate said. Before Lee could reply he heard what sounded like a helicopter, it was coming his way. Lee turned in the direction of the sound. Everyone got out of the truck and stared off at the sky. After a few moments of anticipation a small black helicopter being followed by a trail of smoke flew uncomfortably close to the treeline and flew over in the opposite direction of the trucks, then crashed somewhere past the rear treeline.

Lee stared at the smoke in the distance, eyes widened with uncertainty, "What the... hell?"


	10. Following the Smoke

Nate sped towards the smoke on the horizon,  
>"Lee, why are we even bothering with a helicopter crash? Its bound to get the dead moving in that direction."<p>

"What if someone is still alive?" Lee asked.

"I still don't see the point." Nate replied while sharply turning left at the end of the road to make his way around to the next road in order to get closer to the crash.

"They could use our help, and If they have a helicopter then they must be pretty organized which could mean a lot of things."

"Bill seemed pretty organized too." Nate said while turning right on the road closest to the crash. The smoke was coming from the tree line to right maybe a quarter mile away.

"Give it a rest will you? Either way they might need our help."

"Whatever, looks like this is as close as we're gonna get." Nate said while pulling over, the smoke trail now directly to the right of the truck.

"You two stay here, If I'm not back in twenty minutes, go and don't look back." Lee said while unbuckling his seat-belt, opening the door and stepping out.

"Maybe I should come with you." September said.

"No, it'll be fine just wait here with Nate."

She nodded her head with a disappointed look on her face.

"I'll be back before you know it." Lee said while shutting the truck turned, entered the woods and began running in the direction of the crash. After around a minute of running he could see the helicopter wreckage, it was in several pieces, the tail was a few meters away from the body, the main rotor blade was bent and still slowly spinning and attached to the slightly sideways helicopter which had dug into the ground around the trees, the engine towards the back of the helicopter was on fire, causing the smoke. There were three male walkers approaching the wreckage. Lee pulled his knife from its quiver and ran up behind the first walker and stabbed it in the back of the head then pulled his arm back releasing the knife as its own weight carried it forward. The other two turned and began to make their way towards him. They were both around six feet apart from each other, one closer to Lee than the other.

"Auuungh." The closer one moaned, arms outstretched towards Lee. Lee quickly forced the knife under its chin, killing it then pulling his knife down then backing up as the bald, grey skinned, walker fell towards him. As the final walker approached Lee kicked its chest knocking it to the ground, he then bent down and stabbed the walkers' temple, turning the knife counter clockwise for good measure.

"Now to check for survivors." Lee stood up and began slowly walking towards the body of the helicopter. There was only one man who appeared to be unconscious. Lee climbed into the helicopter, coughing from the smoke, and unbuckled the mans' safety belt then began dragging him out of the helicopter and away from it. Once he was a couple of meters away from the wreckage he stopped and examined the man. He was a lanky, long haired, Indian man with glassed and a short beard. Lee put his ear onto the mans' chest.  
><em>"A pulse!" <em>He thought.

"Raaaugh!" An almost skeletal female walker approached from the left of Lee. He pulled his pistol from its holster and quickly shot the walker through the side of its head. Lee then put his arm under the man and slung him over his shoulder, he then turned and began lightly jogging in the direction of the road.

"D-Damn it.. maybe I should of, brought Nate with me." Lee said, struggling to carry the man. After two minutes of carrying the man he could see the truck ahead. "NATE!" Lee yelled. Nate and September came running towards him.

"Found someone?!" Nate asked as he ran towards him.

"No shit." Lee said just as Nate approached, "Here, take him." Nate carried the man as you would a female, behind the knees and upper back. September ran and opened the truck bed door, Nate placed him down.

"Well, hes breathing." Nate observed.

"Think he'll be alright?" September asked.

"I don't know, I'm not a doctor." Nate said.

"Why is he unconscious?" September asked.

"Could be from the smoke." Lee said.

"Really? Seems like we got to him pretty fast though."

"Looks like there is a bit of a bruise on the side of his jaw." Nate said. "Could of just been knocked out by hitting his face in something, takes a little while for the smoke to knock you out, I think, and we got to him around two minutes after the crash."

"Well, then I guess all we have to do is wait for him to wake up." Lee said.

"Well, I say we lay him on the truck bed and get moving." Nate said.

"I'll stay in the back with him. Let him know what happened once he wakes up." Lee said.

"Sounds fun." Nate said while walking towards the drivers' side door. September climbed into the passengers' side and pulled the door shut.

"Always the first face they see when they wake up." Lee muttered as he moved the man off the side, lying him on top of a gun bag, then He got in and sat on the left rear corner of the truck bed. Nate started the truck and began driving straight ahead. Lee stared at the smoke as they moved further and further away from it.

After fifteen minutes the man awoke placing his left hand on his left temple.  
>"Ooooh where am I?" The man asked with a heavy Indian accent.<p>

"We pulled you out from that wreck." Lee informed him.

"Wreck? I must of hit my head on impact because all I remember is losing control of it." He said.

"So whats your name?" Lee asked.

"Aaqil, and you?"

"Lee."

"Good to meet you, and thanks for the pick up."

"No problem." Lee said.

The man eyed his missing arm.  
>"So you got bit, huh?"<p>

"Yeah."

"Smart that you cut it off."

"I actually did it too late, apparently, based off what I've heard."

"Did you pass out prior to cutting it off?"

"Yeah."

"Fascinating, maybe you are immune to the bite. If so, I feel bad for your arm."

"Me too. So, uh, what were you doing with that helicopter?"

"Well I was flying..." The man said with a smile.

"But why?"

"I was just, uh.. out for some fun." The man said nervously.

"Do you have people you're with?" Lee asked.

"Well, yes I do."

"Would you like us to drive you to them?" Lee asked.

"Uh, sure, if that is alright."

"Alright, where are they?"

"Summerville, the courthouse."

"Alright, You hop in front with Nate and give him directions."

"Sounds good to me."

Lee knocked on the glass behind Nate, he then pulled over to the side of the road. Nate held open his door and peered out.  
>"Hey there sunshine, how was that crash?" Nate asked.<p>

"Nate, this is uh.."

"Aaqil." Aaqil reminded him.

"Yeah, and we're going to take him back to his people in Summerville."

"Sounds like fun..." Nate said in a tired tone.

"Right, well then I'll just get in front then." Aaqil said climbing out of the truck bed and walking around to the passengers side door. September opened the door and hopped out of the truck and made her way to the back. Aaqil and Nate shut theirs doors, September climbed into the cluttered truck bed then Nate started the truck back up and they began driving down route 27 yet again.

"So, why do you think he was in that helicopter? I didn't see any supplies at the crash." Lee asked September.

"I don't know, what did he say?"

"He said he just went for a ride."

"Huh, weird. Think he's hiding something?"

"I don't know, we'll have to be careful once we get to this place." Lee said while waiting anxiously. An hour passed, they drove over the Henry branch river and made their way through the town. Most of the building had brick exteriors. Several walkers lined the littered, devastated, town.  
>"It seems odd to camp out in a town, they must have a lot of people with them."<p>

"Then there isn't much we could do if they aren't friendly then?" September asked.

"Maybe they're friendly, if not then we'll deal with it, like we always have."

"Yeah." September agreed with a smile. Nate pulled up in front of the towns historic court house. There were wooden walls constructed along the four pillars that stood at the top of the steps leading towards the entrance, the brick building to the left of the court house had wooden walls connecting to the court house. There were several male guards of various ethnicity and ages on the roof tops above. Each appeared to have heavy grade military assault rifles and body armor. Nate and Aaqil stepped opened their doors and stepped out of the truck, Lee and September hopped out out the truck bed. The four stared at the camp.

"Well here we are." Lee said.

"I want to apologize." Aaqil said.

"For what?" Nate asked.

"For bringing you here." Aaqil said with a grave tone.

"What do you mean?" Lee asked. Before Aaqil could reply one tall and very large dark skinned man who had a long beard and dreadlocks wearing a black trench coat approached while being followed by four plainly dressed men with different assault rifles. The man stopped in front of the small group and stared at Aaqil.

"What happened to the chopper?" The man asked in a very deep intimidating voice.

"I uh, the helicopter malfunctioned and crashed into the woods, I'm lucky I survived." Aaqil said, nervously.

"I see." The large man said while walking up to the group, he kneeled down in front of September, he was about two feet taller than her while in this stance.  
>"What your name?" He asked her.<p>

"September." She replied looking up at him, unafraid.

"Hey, September, my name's Lamar."

"Good to meet you." She said, shaking his hand.

He stood straight up and glared at Lee and Nate.  
>"What are your names?" He asked in a plain manner.<p>

"I'm Nate and this is Lee." Nate said in an oddly friendly manner.

"Alright..." Lamar then turned to Aaqil then picking him up by the throat with his right hand and proceeded to slowly crush his neck. Aaqil pulled at his hand trying to free himself, to no avail.  
>"You crash MY shit, huh?" Lamar said while tightening his grip.<p>

"Hey!" Lee yelled then ran towards them to try to break it up. The man turned and punched Lee straight in the face with his left hand knocking him down in the direction the punch was traveling, he blacked out.

_Lee stared up at the motor inn sign that had shut off the night before. Lily approached Lee, leaving her father to help Kenny with building the wall._

_"Hey, Lee, you got a sec?" Lily asked._

_"Whats up?" Lee replied._

_"I just wanted to apologize since my dad nearly... got you killed."_

_"He does that often? getting people killed I mean."_

_"No, Its just that night we, I guess all went through a lot and he wasn't in the best mood."_

_"We're all in this together though, being in a bad mood isn't an excuse to start killing people."_

_"Yeah, I know. I hope you'll give him a break." _

_"Giv-" Lee began but was cut off._

_"I mean forgive him, sorry."_

_Lee shook his head,  
>"If he gets off my case then I might consider it."<em>

_"Yeah I'll talk to him about that."_

_"I'm not mad at him though, I just want to keep the group together."_

_"I hear you." Lily said while walking off in the direction of her father._

Lee slowly awoke with a massive migraine.  
>"What.. where is..." He said realizing he was in a dark room all alone with nothing but the dim light under the door in front of him, he tried to stand but couldn't, his hand was bounded by a chain to the ground. He could hear muffled screaming coming from somewhere within the building.<br>"Hello?! what the fuck is this?!" Lee yelled, hoping to get a response, he was greeted with no such luxury. He could hear what sounded like chains and footsteps walked towards him, then he saw a shadow pass by the door and kept moving.  
>"Hey! Let me out of here!" He yelled in a panicked tone, again he was ignored.<p>

"Uhhhh... God... keep it down, will you?" An unknown voice moaned in the dark room.

"Who's there?" Lee asked.

"What does it matter? we're fucked anyway." The man said in a very low, depressed tone.

"What do you mean?"

"You were unconscious when they dragged your sorry tail in here, if you saw what I did, you would surely know what's to come."

"What are you talking about? Are they going to kill us?"

"Yes, but it isn't just that..."

"What else then?"

"I believe these people lure people here to collect their supplies and... eat them, I know this because I passed by their uh, 'kitchen' when they brought me in here."

"Fuck... I've actually met people like that before, just fuck why?"

"The world is a nightmare now."

"Is there anyway out of here?" Lee asked while fighting with the chains that bounded his hand.

"I'm afraid not, best if we just made our peace with God and pray for a quick death."

"I don't think so, I've got an idea." Lee quickly grinned in the dark.

"Really? well if it actually works for you I hope you'll consider helping me out of here too."

"I will, I promise." Lee said before biting down on his arm, drawing blood. He could do this since his jacket, shoes, and belt were confiscated.

Another couple of hours passed and nothing changed. The bite on his arm still there, and stinging.  
>"Come on... are they ever going to come back for us?" Lee asked.<p>

"Eventually... If so this'll be my fifth dish of oat meal..."

"Alright." Lee said, thinking several times about what he was going to say. Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching.  
>"Please, don't pass by." Lee whispered. A shadow appeared under the door and stayed there, a second later keys could be heard jingling and lock tumblers could be heard clicking.<br>"Thank God." Lee said as the door swung open.

"Rise and shine, boys" The man at the door said while shining a flashlight at Lee's face, his eyes were bothered by the light.  
>"You boys are going to have some fun here." The stranger at the door said while placing a bowl in between them.<p>

"You don't want to kill me." Lee said.

"I don't, its messy, but a man has got to eat."

"I'm immune to the walker bite." Lee said.

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, look at this." Lee said while lifting up his arm, the man shined the light over it.  
>"This happened a day or two ago. And no fever."<p>

"So what? if you're immune why do I give a shit?"

"I was on my way to washington when we found your buddy, I was going to meet up with people I met who could possibly cure this plague with my DNA."

"Bullshit."

"Fine, but next time you get bit you'll wish you had listened to me."

"Dammit... wait here." The man said while turning and locking the door.

"That was a hell of a bullshit story." The other man said with a laugh.

"Just eat your oatmeal, man."

"The name is Mitchell, by the way."

"I'm Lee."

"Good to meet you, you crazy bastard."

A couple of minutes later two shadows appeared in front of the door then the door swung open a second time, this time Lee could see a much larger silhouette, most likely the man who hit him.  
>"Get him on his feet." Lamar said.<p>

"Yes, sir." The much shorter man said while crouching in front of Lee and unlocking his chains.

"Come on, Lee, we have much to discuss." Lamar said in his deep voice.

Lee got to his feet, "Sounds good to me." With that Lee followed Lamar with the other man just behind, making sure to shut the door on the way out. Lee could see a long hallway leading to a stair case, there were tables with dimly lit candles, it was incredible dark to the point where it put Lee at unease.

"LET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" An enraged man said in one of the rooms they passed by.

"Damn..." Lee said as he followed the large man in front of him. They made their way down the stairs, Lee saw curtains to a room close as they approached, but Lee could still see because there was a slightly spaced opening in between the curtains. He got a quick glimpse as they passed by, he saw blood inside the room then a saw began roaring loudly after they passed.

"Lets head into my office." Lamar said while opening the door to the outside. Lamar held the door open for Lee as he exited the building into the late afternoon night. Lee turned to see several people of various ages wearing only gowns and dirty jeans the men had overgrown beards, each was chained by the neck, stuck to the brick wall, they were horribly skinny. Some were loading magazines others were cleaning uniforms. All had a look of complete agony and tire. Lee simply shook his head as he followed Lamar. They entered the courthouse and made their way past the courtroom. Lee remembered his trial. Then they entered the room where the judge would normally retreat to after the trial ended.  
>"Here we are, Leave us, Darian." Lamar ordered.<p>

"Of course." Darian said while shutting the door behind him. Lee saw a desk, a recliner, a wooden chair, and some metal drawers in the room.

"Please sit." Lamar said as he made his way to his recliner. Lee sat in the chair in front of the desk, eyeing the lantern in front of him.  
>"Let me see your hand."<p>

"Sure." Lee said while extending his hand next to the lantern, the bite was now visible.

"Interesting... this happened two days ago?"

"Yeah."

"The dead man was able to bite through your jacket?" Lamar said while crossing his arms.

"No, I wasn't wearing it at the time."

"What happened to your other arm?" Lamar asked.

"When I first got bit I cut it off." Lee said.

"That doesn't make you immune."

"I did it after the infection spread through my body, I actually passed out and one of my friends discovered the bite."

"And you're still here..."

"Yeah, I went through a massive fever about a day ago and I woke up and I was fine."

"You think you can stop this plague? The people down in DC know what to do with you?" Lamar asked.

"Yeah, I met some people who were studying bite victims and they tried to get me to Washington after we discovered I was immune but, well they died and I met those other two later on, we've been moving north as best we could. Those people told me I must get to the oval office, there are a few more details if you want to hear them."

"Naw, man, I believe you." Lamar got up and approached a window to the right of him and pulled on a string until the blinds pulled all the way up, allowing light to invade the room.  
>"That piece of shit plague killed my family... and I'll be damned if I don't kill this thing."<p>

"I'm sorry about that..." Lee said, suddenly noticing his jacket, belt, and boots lying in the corner with a machete. Lee slowly stood up and approached the pile of items, keeping an eye on Lamar as he did so.

"My boy... my girls... and my wife... all dead." Lamar said while still staring out the window. Lee picked up the machete and made his way towards Lamar.  
>"My beautiful, innocent wife... she told me, before she died to keep, the kids, close, and never let them get bit... You have given me hope that now we can get back at these things." Lamar said, sorrowfully.<p>

"I'm sorry, Lamar." Lee said, Lamar snapped his head up but before he could react Lee planted the machete into the back of his head, instantly killing him. He fell to the ground with a thump, Lee looked down at him, there were tears on the sides of his face. Lee sighed then turned towards his things and put them on. Lee made his way to the door with his knife in hand, but he turned to look at Lamar one last time, though he was a bad man Lee felt sympathetic towards him and he died believing there was a chance to save the world, Lee crouched and slowly opened the door, nobody was there.  
>"I gotta find that Darian guy." Lee whispered. As he snuck by the stand and past the jury seats, he suddenly noticed Darian standing alone by the double doors, unarmed.<p>

"Do this, do that. Why not 'hey Darian'? or 'hows it going Darian'?" Darian ranted to himself.

Lee snuck closer to him then sheathed his knife and pulled his gun on him, "Don't make a sound." Lee ordered. Darian nodded while showing his hands.  
>"Is there anyone else in this building?"<p>

"J-Just me and Lamar, there are six others on the roof of this place, they use a long ladder on the side of the court house to get up there. Also there are four guys on the roof of the building you were imprisoned in, along with one guy that is working the kitchen, thats eleven other people. Now please don't kill me."

"Turn around and I won't."

"Okay, alright I can do that." The small bald maybe in his mid twenties man said as he turned around.

"See ya." Lee hit Darian with the butt of the gun, knocking him unconscious. Lee then dragged him out the door, through the hall and outside, he left placed him into a green pickup and shut the door. The people who were chained up to the brick building were looking at him, he simply put his finger in front of his mouth as a way of asking them to be quiet, they all nodded. Lee picked up a gas can from the back of the truck, it was full. He kept his eye on the roofs, hoping nobody would notice him, he entered the courthouse and began dumping the gas all over the floors, he poured gas on the jury stand, the judges stand and even Lamar's 'office'.  
>"This outta deal with those guys on the roof." Lee then fished throughout the room until he found some matches, He then made his way back outside, making a trail of gas lead up the courthouse, then he threw a match. The trail lit on fire and spread all the way inside. Lee then ran to the ladder and knocked it over.<br>"Now to deal with that cook, fast." Lee turned towards the brick building and ran towards it and opened the door, the he entered the 'kitchen' Seeing the cook bent over, chopping human flesh.

"Ladade ladado ladadum" The chef sang as he chopped. Lee pulled his knife from its quiver and slowly walked up behind him.  
>"LADADEE LADDADOOO LADDADUUUM!" the man in chef's attire sang while slicing meat, causing blood to gush everywhere in the process. Lee then stabbed the man through his neck. The man fell to the ground and rolled around in extreme agony, choking and knocking over a stand in the process. After a couple of seconds the man stopped moving. Lee shook his head and felt like puking. He then realized that he had to hurry. He ran up the stairs and past the holding rooms and up to the roof where the four other guards were standing, keeping watch, they hadn't noticed the smoke yet when they did they all sprung up and stared off at it in disbelief. Lee kicked one of the men causing him to fall off the roof he then grabbed the next man and put his arm stub around his neck and shot a third man in the back of the head.<p>

When the last man turned and raised his gun he saw one dead man, and one man being held against his will.  
>"Let him go!" The hispanic man in body holding a military grade assault rifle ordered.<p>

"Put your gun down and you'll both be spared." Lee said.

"No way!" The man said.

"Please just do as he says." The man Lee was holding with a gun to his head pleaded.

"A-Alight..." The man dropped his gun, when he did Lee shot him through the eye and then shot the man he was holding they both fell to the ground, motionless.

"I'm sorry..." Lee said as he made his way back into the holding rooms, he quickly glanced at the men on the roof of the other building, they were panicking.

One hour later...

The courthouse had been completely scorched and had collapsed in some places, some of the men on the roof jumped to their deaths or suffocated. Lee had freed almost everyone, including Nate and Mitchell, he hadn't located September yet.

"Nice fucking work, Lee." Nate patted Lee on the back.

"I killed a dozen people today..." Lee said, shamefully.

"And you saved three dozen others, I've never seen anyone pull something like this off, single handed."

"Yeah I guess."

"Don't sweat it pal, you did good." Nate said while putting his hand on Lee's shoulder then walking off.

Mitchell approached, now Lee could see him in the light, he was a light skinned man with dark brown hair and a short beard.  
>"You did it, Lee, you regained my freedom, I don't know if I have god to thank for that, but I will thank you for it."<p>

The two shook hands, "Sure, man, I made a promise didn't I?"

"It was one hell of a promise. I'm gonna go find my boy, I'll catch you later." Mitchell said while turning and walking off to look for his son in the crowd.

Lee also turned and looked towards the crowd for several seconds, he didn't see September.  
>"Fuck..." Lee felt ashamed like his decision to chase the helicopter only caused more death. Lee looked towards the ground in sorrow.<p>

"LEE!" A familiar voice called. Lee sprung his head back up and saw September running towards him. He bent down and the two embraced, tears were rolling down her eyes. She looked up him and said:  
>"You saved me."<p>

Lee smiled and petted her hair.


	11. Stuck between a rock and a hard place

Day 289, Coosawattee river, Carter's Regulation Dam, 8:58 AM

Lee was walking along the riverside making his way towards the dam they now called home, Mitchell and Nate were not far behind, they both were carrying green canvas bags with squirrel, Raccoon, and some salmon fish. Lee stared ahead up at the orange tents and cars scattered along the dam, traveling to this location wasn't easy, having so many people to worry about.  
>"Hey, Mitch, what happened to Eren? I thought you were going to show him how to fish and set up snares." Lee asked<p>

"He isn't feeling well. He's been coughing all morning, he told me he wanted to stay behind and rest."

"Well, I hope he feels better soon." Lee said while pulling his hand-radio from his belt he pressed the button and put it close to his mouth, "Sep, you there?"

_"Yeah, are you almost back?" _September responded.

"Yeah I'll be there in five minutes, get someone to open that gate for me."

September coughed and said:  
><em>"Will do."<em>

"You alright?" Lee asked.

_"Yeah, just had a little bit of a cough."_

Lee turned to Mitchel as they made their way up the hill beside the dam,  
>"Sounds like there is a cold going around." Lee said.<p>

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Mitchel assured him.

Nate spoke up, "Maybe we should go out and find some meds... beats hanging around the damn, well... dam."

"Maybe we'll do that." Lee said as they approached the yellow school bus which blocked the way to the dam so walkers couldn't pass through, there were several walkers lining the area beside the bus. They nailed wooden planks and boards onto the lower side skirt of the bus so walkers couldn't crawl under. The bus door opened, thanks to the old man sitting in the driver's seat. the three men climbed into the bus, there was a large hole cut into the side of the bus, two seats were removed behind the drivers seat. Lee and Mitchel climbed out through the opening of the bus.  
>"You two bring those bags to Gretchen." Lee said while walking towards Nate's truck that was parked in the middle of the camp.<p>

"Eye-eye captain witness." Nate said.

"Why do you keep calling him that?" Mitchell questioned.

Lee approached the truck and opened the passengers side door. September was sitting there, drawing in her notebook. Lee attempted to sit beside her.  
>"Hold up, idiot, I don't think that's such a good idea." She said with a sniff.<p>

"Are you alright?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, I just don't wanna get you sick."

"Why not go rest in the tent? Its too hot to stay in the truck."

"I wanted to keep watch." She said looking out the driver's side window.

"Well today is a sick day, just go to the tent and take it easy, that's your job for the day."

"Alright, Lee." She said before scooting towards the passenger's side door and hopping out, Lee stood there and watched as she made her way over to the tent.

"Lee, we've got a situation." A very slim blond woman in her mid forties said while running up to Lee from behind with panic in her voice.

Lee turned to face her, "Gretchen, what's wrong?"

"A large herd of walkers is on its way, they must of heard the gunshots we've been letting off this week, and I think we're about to encounter an outbreak."

"A what? what are you talking about?"

"Jack and Sigrid are dead. The cold that's going around, is lethal."

"Fuck... we gotta go out and find some med's, get two people ready within the next five minutes, we're going on a run."

"Lee, I don't think that is such a good Idea. That herd is very large there's no way you are going to get through it and even if you do its going to blow through our camp."

"Have Nate and Mitchel take our bikes and make their way up stream, then have them fire some flares far off in that direction." Lee said while looking her straight in the eyes and pointing east.

"They won't be able to get through that herd!" She said, stressed.

"If you cover yourself in their scent they won't be able to tell the difference, basically smearing their blood on yourself, do you understand? they'll be fine."

"I do."

"Get me two other people so we can go get some medicine and have Yusuf tend to the sick as best he can before we return."

"Alright, Lee." With that she ran off towards the tents on the north side of the dam, the opposite side of the herd's movement.

Lee ran towards the bus on the south side, Nate and Mitchell were leaning on the bus talking.  
>"Hey, Lee, everything alright?" Mitchell asked.<p>

"No, I need you guys to take the bikes and travel upstream and fire our flares, and fast, a herd is on its way."

"No way." Nate said, Mitchell gave him a displeased look.

"Cover yourself in their blood, there are some bodies by the bus, there are ponchos under the seat of your truck, use those."

"Sick fuck." Mitchell said.

"It'll keep you alive, just listen to me okay?"

Mitchell shook his head, "Alright, Lee, I'm in." Mitchell said.

"Well I guess It could be fun, riding bikes and firing flares, then again maybe not." Nate said.

"Great, good, thanks guys." Lee said.

"God help us." Mitchell said while following Nate to his truck.

_"Lee?"_ Gretchen called from Lee's talkie.

"Yeah?"

_"I've got you some people to help."_

"Good, send them to me." Lee said.

A minute later, Jeremy, a Caucasian male with short blond hair, in his early twenties, Isabel, an Asian woman with long black hair, in her late thirties, stood before him with blue ponchos and backpacks and silenced assault rifles.  
>"We're ready to head out." Isabel said, but not in any accent she spoke similar to how Carly spoke.<p>

"Alright, go smear walker blood on you, I'm sure Gretchen already explained this to you." Lee said pointing to the bus. They nodded and jogged towards the bus. Lee grabbed his radio,  
>"Gretchen, if the plan fails, get everyone moving north."<p>

_"You got it." _She replied.

_"You had better not die." _September said through her radio.

"I won't." Lee left his talkie on a crate near the bus. He walked towards the bus and made his way through it.

"Here, Lee." Jeremy said while handing a poncho and backpack to him as he stepped out of the bus.

"Thanks." Lee said as he dropped the backpack and pulled the poncho over himself. Isabel and Jeremy stood staring at him looking slightly nervous. Lee bent down and stuck his hand into the already cut walker's stomach and began smearing the poncho with it. Lee then grabbed the backpack and swung it over his shoulder.

"Now or never I suppose." Jeremy said.

"Yeah." Lee stood up and turned towards the southern road, the only road with the nearest town.

"You guys get back safe, you hear?" The old man said while tying up the bus door with thick rope.

"We'll be back soon, Desmond." Isabel said to the old man as they began walking away.

They walked on for several minutes until the incoming heard was visible.  
>"Are you sure about this Lee? Look at that!" Jeremy stated in a panicked tone.<p>

"Calm down. I've done this enough times to know that it works."

"Alright.. okay." Jeremy began taking deep breaths.

"Just don't make a sound alright?" Lee asked before hearing a loud shot in the distance. He turned to see a bright red light shooting up into the air then turning and falling towards the earth. Lee turned to see the herd speeding up and traveling towards the direction of the flare, they were maybe 300 yards away.

"Lee, can I go back please?" Jeremy asked in an increasingly panicked state.

Isabel shook her head, agitated, "Jeremy, shut up, we will be fine."

"Here they come, just follow right behind me." Lee said slowing his pace, about to meet the herd within the next minute. Lee turned to check on them Jeremy had a look of complete terror. Lee heard another flare, then another. The herd was moving across the road at an angle, through the woods, down to the river. Another set of flares were fired. Lee was the first to step into the herd, he made his way through being bumped and tossed around. His path and the herds could be described as an 'x'. It was difficult to travel like this, it seemed as though Lee took two steps and began stumbling. After several minutes of moving through the herd Lee could still hear nothing but the moaning of the walkers, and the last firing of a flare. Lee heard light sobbing, he turned to see Isabel covering Jeremy's mouth as they followed, Jeremy had tears rolling down his face.

"Shh..." Isabel said, trying to keep him calm.

"lets go back, please." Jeremy said, muffled, causing a walker to turn and look at him then turn and continue to follow the flow.

"We can't, just look we're almost through it, its just a little further." She whispered to him. She wasn't lying, the road was well in sight just a couple of yards away, most of the herd had already moved into the woods and towards the river at this point.

"Keep it together back there." Lee whispered then, as he turned to look ahead he bumped into a very large, grey skinned, walker then began stumbling back only to hit another, the flow of walkers caused him to lose his footing, he fell and began being stepped on by the ever moving crowd of walkers.  
><em>"Shit... I gotta get back up, fast." <em>Lee thought, when he thought he saw an opening he sat up and used his arm as leverage but was knocked back down onto his side. Lee could see nothing but the shuffling of legs all around him, Isabel and Jeremy were nowhere in sight. Lee turned onto his stomach and began crawling against the flow, hoping the herd would subside. Lee felt a sharp pain from all directions, the dead were stepping on him and tripping and falling on him. Lee felt a sharp kick to the head, he shut his eyes and clenched his teeth then continued to crawl on his arm and drag himself forward. Eventually the herd seemed to thin and Lee had his chance to stand up. When he did he looked around for his companions and saw they standing outside of the herds movement, waiting anxiously. Lee made his way towards them as he did he turned to see the road was almost completely clear of the dead.

"Are you okay?" Isabel whispered as Lee approached them, trying to not alert the small amount of walkers that remained.

"Yeah... I'm okay." Lee responded, feeling winded, the three walked on leaving the small remnants of walkers behind them.

"Are you sure? there are a few bruises on your cheek and forehead." Isabel asked, now not needing to whisper due to the distance between them and the herd.

"I'll live now lets hurry up and get those supplies."

"How much further?" Jeremy asked.

"Well on foot it'll take around six hours." Lee replied.

"Shit, where are we going?" Jeremy asked.

"Calhoun, its the only place around that still has supplies." Lee said.

"But six hours? are you for real?" Jeremy asked while walking backwards in front of him.

"I left a jeep on the side of the road a little further down the road, Nicklesville road, right there, on the turn." Le explained.

"You just think of everything, don't you?" Isabel said.

"I left it there on accident, in all honesty. Remember when I was gone for a few days?"

"And you showed up covered in mud?" Isabel joked.

"Yeah, I got lost when I went out looking for a deer I saw in the road."

"Well, I guess we're lucky that you never went back for the jeep." Isabel said.

"Yeah, we are." Lee said as he eyed the turn, the rear half of the red jeep could be seen at the end of the treeline to the right.

"Why didn't we just wait for the herd to pass before coming down here?" Isabel questioned.

"Yeah, Lee, the hell?" Jeremy joined in.

"There are people who are sick down there. Jack, and Sigrid just died, we don't wait when it comes to things like this. Also I wasn't sure how large this herd was."

"Doesn't matter now lets just get this done." Isabel said as they approached the jeep.

Lee pulled the poncho hood off and went around to the driver's side and opened the door finding the keys on the seat.  
>"Right where I left em..." Lee said as he picked them up and hopped into the jeep. Jeremy shut his door for him and climbed into the seat behind his, Isabel sat in the seat beside Lee. Lee placed the key in the ignition and turned it, the jeep roared on. Lee grabbed the stick-shift and shifted to drive then pushed on the gas pedal. Lee turned back onto the road and began driving, the road was clear, no cars, no trash, no bodies. Just a road and the trees on both sides.<p>

"So you know where in Calhoun the medical supplies would be located?" Isabel asked.

"The hospital?" Lee said with a smirk.

"Right." She said while turning to look out her window.

Lee put his amputated arm on the wheel then used his hand to lower the rear view window. He gave his beard a look, he had stopped shaving for awhile and his bead had grown about two centimeters below his chin,  
>"You guys think I might need a shave?" Lee asked as he put his hand back on the wheel and continued to drive.<p>

"No way, man. Beards give a guy character." Jeremy said.

"What about walkers?" Lee joked, Isabel laughed.

"So? I don't like walkers, whats the big deal?" Jeremy said while crossing his arms.

"Most of the population of Georgia is walkers." Lee replied.

"Yeah, you have to get used to them eventually." Isabel said.

"Eventually is not now, though, so lets drop it." Jeremy said.

"Alright." Isabel said.

"Think we've got a good spot where we are? The dam, I mean." Lee asked.

"We're alive aren't we?" Isabel replied.

"Most of us." Lee said while continuing to stare ahead.

"If there is somewhere better where we can go, I'm not seeing it." Isabel told him.

"You're right, our spot is fine." Lee said. They drove on for about forty minutes, they were now driving down an express highway which had four lanes and multiple turn off points. Lee turned right and on exit 301 and began traveling down towards street level when he reached the broken stop light at the end of their exit route they turned right to see multiple large white buildings with huge parking lots such as an eye care center, a large pharmacy, and a hotel.

"Oh hey! look! there is a hospital just down the road I can see the sign!" Jeremy exclaimed happily.

"I've been there once." Isabel stated.

"Oh really? when was that?" Lee asked as he turned into the parking lot and made his way to the entrance. The parking lot was devoid of any walkers, the whole city seemed empty.

"Last year, when I had my baby." She said a in low tone.

"I'm sorry, Isabel... had I kno-"

"Its alright, we have a job to do so there isn't any time to be sentimental." She said while raising her poncho hood.

"Alright." Lee said as he parked close to the entrance of the hospital. The three got out, Lee approached the now out of power automatic doors.  
>"Get ready." Lee said, they both nodded with their assault rifles in hand. Lee turned and knocked on the glass doors, nothing, no sound from inside.<p>

"I guess its empty." Jeremy said.

"Guess so." Lee began to pull on the glass door to the right, it opened without much struggle.

"Well lets go find those med's." Jeremy began to step inside until he heard a moan, he snapped back in fear. Isabel pulled the glass door shut. After a couple of seconds around two dozen walkers crammed against the glass.

"So much for empty." Lee said while looking at nurses, doctors, and patients furiously scratching at the door.  
>"How about you two clear the door?" Lee asked.<p>

"Lets step back, then." Isabel said while backing towards the sidewalk. Isabel and Jeremy both raised their silenced M4 carbine rifles.

"Well at least their easy pickings at this point." Jeremy said. The two took aim and began firing at the walkers, glass shattering, half of the walkers fell to the ground the others tripped and fell out of the hospital slamming against the concrete and were quickly picked off by the two heavily armed survivors.

"Lets get moving." Lee said before pulling out his flashlight and making his way inside the other two did the same carrying their guns by this middle and carrying a flashlight in their other hand. They entered Lee shined his flashlight around and saw dozens of bodies covered in bed-sheets neatly stacked in the large waiting room. They searched room after room finding small amounts of medical supplies in each room such as: Band aids, various tweezers, scissors, and many other useful medical supplies.

"Hey, Lee I found some cephalosporin, uh, cephalexin and uh..." Isabel said reading the labels of the antibiotic bottles.

"Just grab all of them, Yusuf will know which ones we need." Lee said while placing several bottles of various types of medicine into his backpack. After half an hour of scavenging their backpacks were full. They made their way towards the shattered doors, ready to head back to camp, until they stopped having seen a dark skinned man with a grey jacket bent over the passengers side door looking into the glove compartment. Jeremy and Isabel raised their guns at the man.

"Hey, pal? you looking for something?" Jeremy called. The man turned to face them with his hands to the sky.

"Sorry I disturbed you folks, I didn't know anyone owned this vehicle, please, lower your guns." The man pleaded.

"Lower your guns." Lee ordered his allies as he approached the unarmed man. Lee stood in front of him and held out his hand,  
>"What's your name, man?"<p>

"Jan." The man said while lowering his hands and shaking hands with Lee.

"I'm Lee and this is, Jeremy and Isabel." The both waved to him.  
>"You got a camp or somewhere you live at?"<p>

"I used to until I was left for dead for questioning the man in charge." Jan said.  
>"That was a couple of months back, how come? you inviting me into your camp?"<p>

"I am." Lee said with a nod.

"Well I accept, and thank you."

"Don't mention it." A minute later the four entered the jeep and began making their way back to the dam.  
>"Just so you know: our people are a little fucked right now, there's a sickness that kills you within forty-eight hours going around."<p>

"I'm sure it'll be alright." The man said while staring out the window to the right behind the seat Isabel is sitting in. Over half an hour later they approached the turn off point towards the dam. Lee stared at Jan through his rear view mirror. Jan had a short beard and well-cut hair, he kept on looking out the window as though he were keeping an eye out for something.

"We're about two minutes away." Lee said.

"Good." The man said, half paying attention. Lee shrugged. Once Lee approached the bus he pulled over beside it and was quickly greeted by Gretchen and Yusuf. Lee stepped out and handed his backpack to Gretchen.

"Lee, everything went according to plan. The walkers never bothered us and Nate and Mitchel got back in one piece, and-" Gretchen said.

"We got a new member for our community, his name is Jan." Lee replied, ignoring what she said.

"Oh, okay, good." She said leading Jeremy, Isabel and Yusuf inside. Lee took off his poncho and tossed it to the ground.

"Thank you, Lee, I appreciate you allowing me to stay." Jan said while entering the bus, Lee followed right behind him. They both hopped off the bus.

"So, Jan, what happened with your last group again? just curious."

"It was a big community with an asshole in charge of things, I uh... questioned his methods of keeping everyone safe and he took me for a ride and abandoned me on the side of the road, I just barely survived the ordeal. Then I met a few people here and there and they told me about this place up north, Wellington."

"Wellington?" Lee asked while leaning against the eastern wall of the dam.

"Yeah, this uh hug place with lots of land, and fresh water, and huge walls, plus the cold winters would slow the walkers, sounded like a good deal but it's located in Michigan, I would never make it that far."

"Maybe we should all move there." Lee suggested.

"I think it'll be worth it, you should have seen the look on this bearded guy's face when I told him."

"Hey, Jan could you go get my radio off that crate over there?"

"Sure, pal." Jan turned and began walking towards the radio.

"Hey, Lee.." September said approaching as though she had just woken up. Lee turned to her,

"How's it going Sep?"

"Alright, everyone was just going crazy earlier, freaking out, I told em: 'Lee is gonna fix this' but they just wouldn't shut up." She said while rubbing her eyes.

"Well some people died today."

"People die everyday." She said while leaning against the wall with him.

"True." Lee admitted.

"That, Yusuf guy told me to go see him soon."

"Well, then you probably should." Lee told her.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"September?!" Jan called standing still about five feet away, Lee turned Jan and back to September, confused. September's eyes widened then she ran toward Jan,

"DAAAAD!" She exclaimed, he bent down and spread his arms out. The pair hugged, tears beginning to roll down their faces, Several other survivors watched the reunion, all with smiles and hope in their eyes after everything they had went through in the past couple of months. Lee stood there watching the father and daughter hold each other, he felt warmth from it. Jan stood and approached Lee with September holding his hand,

"Thank you, Lee, for looking after my little girl." Jan said while handing the radio to him.

"She's looked after me more than I did her." Lee said with a smile as he put his radio onto his belt.

"Just like her mother, selfless and brave." Jan said while looking down at her.

"She sure is." Lee agreed, Jan shook Lee's hand firmly. September hugged Lee,

"You found my dad.. " September said with a cough.

"Go on, take your dad with you to see, Yusuf." Lee ushered with a smile. September turned to her father and together they began walking towards Yusuf who was standing by a tent watching with pills in his hand and a smile on his tan, bearded, face. Lee watched them walk away feeling joy for the two finding one another in this world riddled with death and loss, he then looked down at the walkie- talkie which rested on his hip, and he remembered or rather realized that he was still missing someone.


	12. Saying goodbye

Day 296, Coosawattee river, Carter's Regulation Dam, 1:43 PM

Lee was sitting in Nate's truck with the door open, letting his legs hang as he watched his people load up the vehicles he took from Lamar's camp before their pilgrimage. Jan filled their minds with the promise of a future, safe from disease, safe from starvation, and safe from the dead, Wellington. Mitchel walked towards Lee and leaned against the the truck, beside Lee. There was a brief silence.

"Are you sure about this?" Mitchel asked before turning to Lee, awaiting a response.

Lee sighed and turned to Mitchel,  
>"These people will be safer there, I'm sure." Lee said.<p>

"I mean about not coming with us, the others don't feel right leaving you."

"They will be fine, both Gretchen and Jan know what they're doing."

"Lee, you saved every last one of these people, more than once, they see you as family." Mitchel said slightly raising his tone. Lee paused, turned and eyed September helping her father pack a green bag into the jeep he used to travel to Calhoun and considered his friend's words about leaving,

"Sometimes... family's break up. And they don't see each other for awhile, then after some time they live together again. I've made my choice, Mitch." Lee told him, without turning to look at him.

"Each has there own." Mitchel said in a sorrowful tone.

"I'm sorry, Mitch. This wasn't an easy choice for me, the rest of my family is still out there."

"I understand." Mitchel said while pulling something out of his dark brown jacket,  
>"Here."<p>

"Huh?" Lee turned to see what is was his friend was giving him, a glove, a grey glove with strong material.

"I thought maybe because you use a leather jacket to prevent being bitten that a glove would also do the same for you."

"Thanks, Mitch I really appreciate this." Lee said while looking down at it.

"The day we meet again, we'll shake hands like we did after the burning of that retched court house." Mitchel said while slipping the other glove he had on his right hand, he could do this since the gloves weren't made to be worn strictly on the left or right hand. Lee placed the glove in his lap and slid his fingers into the glove then pulled the glove on with his teeth.

"That man, Lamar was once a good man, he had a lot of hate for this plague, It's what killed his family and I think I gave him hope before he died, but it was only brief because before I killed him, I apologized, then I think he realized in that split second, that there was no hope of ending the plague."

"I don't have sympathy for him." Mitchel said while shaking his head.

"I don't either, I'm just wondering if I should have killed him, letting him hold onto false hope."

"I think you did the right thing, regardless." Mitchel said before walking off towards a light blue sedan to join his son and Jeremy in packing various bags for the trip.

Lee turned towards the northern end of the dam where the other bus was blocking off that end. This was the way everyone was going to travel within the next hour. Lee hopped out of the truck and approached the northern bus which Nate was sitting in and would later back out of the way to let the other survivors drive out. Lee climbed into the bus smelling something strange, he then made his way towards Nate, he could see smoke clouding around Nate's hat, also he was sitting with his feet kicked up on the wheel.

"Nate?" Lee called, confused about the smoke.

"I'm over here, Leeeee..."

"Yeah I can see that, what are you doing?."

"Smoking some pot, want some?" Nate said while holding up a blunt. Lee sat down in the seat behind Nate and leaned back to relax,

"Hell no." Lee said without much interest.

"What's the matter, Lee? you afraid of the most soft-core drug on the planet? or are you gonna miss that psychopathic kid?" Nate said before sticking the blunt in his mouth again.

"I'm just curious on what your plans are."

"I'm sticking with you, buddy, you're my boy for life! wooo..." Nate said before tossing the blunt out the window.  
>"After you do that stuff for awhile it gets less thrilling."<p>

Lee gave a half grin and shook his head, "Nate, why did you pick me up that day?"

"I was honestly going to turn you into road kill, until I saw your injury, I got slightly curious, a guy surviving on bullshit supplies with a bullshit car AND on top of that this guy had one arm. Why wouldn't I stop to pick you up?"

"So, why did you choose to stick with me all this time?"

"Why am I still here? I dunno, maybe your just too much fun to kill. Maybe I want to be your 'witness'."

"You're not going to let that go, are you?"

"Damn right." Nate turned and watched the others pack, load, and refuel the vehicles.  
>"That guy, Jan, just took everything you have."<p>

"Excuse me?"

"He took your cars, he took your supplies, he took your people, and he took your little she-devil."

"He didn't take anything from me, those people are going because they want to survive, I chose to stay. Those supplies are as much mine as they are everyone else's, and that's his daughter, its a miracle that they found each other."

"So, finding that other little girl is as much of a long shot as them finding each-other?" Nate said in a demeaning manner.

"...Yeah, I guess." Lee said.

"If I were you I-"

"Yeah, I think I get the point." Lee said, slightly frustrated.

"I wonder if anyone else is staying." Nate said, changing the subject.

"I don't think anyone else will." Lee said, watching the other continue to prepare for their trip.

"So, where are we heading next?"

"Maybe we'll travel way down south, been scouting up here for too long."

"Sounds like fun.." Nate said in an lifeless tone.

"I'm gonna go see if the others need help or something." Lee said while standing and making his way off the bus.

"Well, I'll be here."

Lee saw Gretchen adding fuel to a red hatchback, a car with two doors that could seat four people but requires the front seats to be positioned closer to dash in order for rear-seat passengers to enter.  
>"Hey, Gretch." Lee said leaning on the driver's side door.<p>

"Oh hello, Lee, you sure you don't want to come along?"

"Yeah, I'll head that way in a couple of months, right now I'm staying in Georgia."

"Well, alright then." Gretchen said before placing the red gas can down and placing the gas cap back on.  
>"What if your girl is in Wellington?"<p>

"I don't think she would be."

"How can you tell?"

"My friend, Christa never liked big groups."

"People can change."

"I'm not so sure that Christa would."

"I don't think Jan even knows where this place is."

"Doesn't matter, we didn't know where this place was but we still found it."

"If you say so."

"Look out for Jeremy, he isn't good around walkers."

"What about September?"

"She can take care of herself, I'm sure."

"Well, I think we should get going before it gets any later."

"Yeah, only a few more hours of sunlight left." Lee said as he turned to the bus Nate was sitting in.

"Lee, also."

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to let you know that we're all proud of you, and appreciate how hard you have worked to keep us all going."

"I'm glad to hear that, be safe Gretchen." Lee said as Gretchen approached him and hugged him.

"You too, Lee." Gretchen said before turning away from him and grabbing her radio,  
>"We're leaving in five, copy."<p>

Lee walked towards the passenger's door of the red jeep a couple of car lengths away where Jan and September were sitting inside, ready to leave.  
>"Hey you too."<p>

"Hey there, Lee" Jan said.

"Hey, Lee." September said in a low tone.

"Just wanted to say goodbye before everyone left." Lee said.

"Well, Lee I cannot tell you how grateful I am." Jan said.

"You don't owe me anything, Jan."

"Pfft, alright be humble then." Jan joked.

"September, are you alright?" Lee asked, noticing her staring down at the floor of the jeep.

"Lee, could you please come with us?" September asked before raising her head to face him.

"No, I'm sorry." Lee responded sadly.

"Maybe she heard about Wellington and is on her way there." September persisted.

"Maybe, but I just can't take that chance." Lee said looking at her as she began to tear up.  
>"Hey, come on now... you-you're stronger than this, you can do anything."<p>

"September? Honey?" Jan tried to avail, she covered her face and lightly sobbed.

"It'll be alright, September." Lee said. September pulled on the handle of the jeep and tried pushing it outwards, Lee backed up as she did, confused. She hugged him tightly,

"Don't go..." She pleaded. Lee felt incredibly saddened by that plea because it wasn't the first time he heard it. Lee put his hand on her shoulder and light pushed her back as he got down to her level.

"September, once you get to Wellington you'll be safe, safer than you ever were since the day this all started. I want the rest of my family to be there so I won't be able to walk in with you but I'll be there, I promise."

"Alright... I'll go... I'll leave..." She said, eyes shut and sniffing sharply. Lee was fighting back the urge to tear up,

"Be safe, September." Lee said as he stood up.

"I want you to have something." September said while quickly turning to the jeep and opening the glove compartment, she pulled out her notebook and held it out to Lee. Lee took it, eyeing the blood stains from her more temperamental days,

"Thank you, September." Lee said.

"Oh and you gave me this awhile ago." September pulled out his snub nosed revolver which she had carved a flower into the side of,  
>"I won't be needing it in Wellington." She said.<p>

"You might need it on the way there, though." Lee said with a smile. He had rarely let out a smile these past few months.

"You might need it more, just take it." She said with a grin. Lee placed the notebook down he then took the revolver and slid it into his right jacket pocket.

"Alright, well that's it then." Lee said as he picked the notebook back up.

"I'll save you and Clementine a spot and maybe Nate too... probably not." She said while climbing back into the jeep.

"Ha. Alright, I appreciate it." Lee said, shutting the door to the jeep.  
>"Take care, Jan."<p>

"I will, Lee." Jan nodded and started up the jeep. Lee stepped back and watched as Nate backed the bus out of the way of the line of vehicles. Once it was clear Gretchen slowly accelerated off the dam and onto the road. The line of cars, trucks and other vehicles followed her lead, Lee watched the red jeep until it was out of sight. Lee placed his palm on his forehead and sighed.

"Hey, Lee." A female voice called from behind. Lee turned to make eye contact with the voice, confused. It was Isabel and Jeremy standing before him with two crates lying beside them.

"Isabel? Jeremy? why are you two still here?" Lee asked.

"We decided to stay, neither of us have any blood-related family anymore so we don't have anything to lose." Isabel explained.

"Yeah, plus we kind of owe you one." Jeremy said.

Lee shook his head. He was displeased because now, he still had people to have to worry about.

**Author's Note: Sorry about this chapter, I've been pretty busy. The next two chapters are going to be a little different but I'm confident that you guys will like them. **


	13. Morality

Day 353, Keg creek, GA, 10:32 AM

Nate watched the water flow endlessly, he stared up at the tall pine trees overhead seeing birds make their homes in the tall branches. He found it incredibly boring... he stood up from the log in which he was sitting and stretched widely. He turned towards the orange tent in which his one-armed companion was resting, stricken with a fever. Jeremy sat patiently beside the tent. Isabel entered the tent about a minute or so ago, ensuring to wear a rag to avoid contracting Lee's sickness. Nate stepped over the log and approached Jeremy,  
>"So... is he felling any better? its getting very boring around here very quick."<p>

"No, I don't think so." Jeremy replied.

"Great." Nate said just as Isabel ducked out of the tent and removed the rag from her face.

"He isn't looking too good. We need to get him some meds before he gets much worse." Isabel explained.

"So, did he say where we could look?" Nate asked, staring anywhere but her eyes.

"I saw a farm not too far from here. Lee says he thinks a Vet or someone used to live there, it is a white two-story house."

"Sounds great, point me in the right direction." Nate said.

"Just cross the river and keep heading west, it should be maybe twenty minutes away, just follow the trail." Isabel explained.

"Well, I'll be back in a hour or two then. I'll be sure to bring back something for you." Nate said as he turned and began making his way along the river.

Nate made his way to a small wooden bridge located not too far up stream. Once the bridge was in sight he noticed a thin female walker with blood-stained overalls, slouching in her stance. Patches of light-brown hair on her head were missing. Nate approached her, unarmed. She was turned facing away from him.  
>"Good morning, maam." Nate said while standing at the end of the eight foot long wooden bridge.<p>

"Uuuunnnggh." The female walker let out as she turned and made her way towards Nate, shuffling.

"Come on now, don't be shy." Nate said as he extended his arms to give the incoming walker a hug.

"Raaaunnngggh!" She snarled angrily as she reached Nate and grabbed his right arm tightly and attempted to bite it.

"Ha! Gotcha!." Nate said as he kicked the walker back causing her to fall flat on her back then quickly with a single firm stomp he crushed the walkers forehead inward.  
>"So this is why mama always said I'd never find the right woman." Nate said with a slight laugh. Nate continued on for some twenty minutes, following the path through the woods up until he could see large fields that appeared to have been trampled and weren't able to grow back whatever was planted since there were only weeds sprouting up. In the distance he could see a damaged white two-story house and charred remains of what was once a barn beside it.<br>"Well that has got to be it." Nate assumed as he made his way towards the destroyed fences which surrounded the farm. Nate noticed several dead bodies which littered the property. Nate was about to step onto the porch to enter through the door but he stopped when he heard what sounded like people talking. He quickly hid around the left corner of the house, the side with the burnt down barn.

"Well, that's everything." A tall man with long brown hair and sideburns said in a southern accent as he made his way down the steps.

"We should get back to camp. My dad is waiting for these meds." The younger man with blonde hair suggested in a similar accent while they stepped over the knocked down fence.

"Why does it always come down to violence?... Because it's more fun this way." Nate whispered before he quickly but quietly paced behind them he picked up a skinny board from the broken fence and swung it with all his strength at the side of the blonde man's head. A loud 'whack' could be heard and blood was visible on the board, the man fell forward and laid motionless.

"What the fuck?!" The brown haired man carrying a black backpack said as he turned to face Nate, quickly reaching for his 44. Nate tackled the man and they both went down. Nate was quick to begin punching the man after five swings the man managed to used his strength and fling Nate off of him with his legs. Nate fell onto his side, causing his blue and white hat to fall off his head. He noticed a rock lying in the dirt. He grabbed it and as the man got to his feet, with a bloody nose, he pulled his revolver from his side and was about to draw on Nate but was stunned by a rock to the eye.  
>"AHHHHHH!" The man bellowed in pain.<p>

Nate sprang up and grabbed for the gun they wrestled for several seconds. The gun flew out of both of their grasps and landed a couple of feet away. The man fell to his knees from the confrontation and attempted to crawl towards his weapon.

"Where do you think you're going?" Nate asked as he grabbed the man's ankles and dragged him a couple of meters away from the gun.

"OKAY! STOP!" The man yelled in fear.

"Excuse me?" Nate said, about to begin beating on the man.

"You win, just take my bag and leave us be." The man pleaded with half of his face in the dirt.

"Atta boy! you do catch on quick." Nate joked as he took his hand off the mans head and backed out of his way. The man got to his feet, his cargo pants and green shirt covered in dirt. Nate walked over to the 44. Magnum revolver and picked it up. He aimed it at the man he had been fighting with.  
>"So? the bag please?"<p>

"Could I keep some of it?"

"What did you just say?"

"Please! my friends are very sick and need the medicine." The man begged with the backpack in hand.

"That sounds like a personal problem, drop the bag." Nate said.

The man gave him a grim look as he slowly removed his backpack from his back and placed it on the ground in front of him.  
>"There, no trouble."<p>

"Well, you're giving me a funny look and I'm not too sure I-" Nate said before being hit from behind and staggering forward.

"GRAB THE BAG! RUN!" The blonde man he had hit before yelled while running past him.

Nate held the side of his head and with blurry eyesight he scanned his surroundings until he saw two figures running in the distance. He began staggering his way towards them with pistol in hand.  
>"Ahh... Karma... is a..." Nate said still feeling sharp pain on the side of his head.<p>

"AHHHHH!" One other men ahead screamed in agony.

"Bitch." Nate said with a devilish grin. As he continued to move towards the scream he felt himself beginning to recover his sight cleared though he felt some blood formed on the side of his scalp. Nate continued to move towards the direction of the scream, towards the woods.

"AHHHH! GOD!" Nate heard, only a few meters away towards some tall wild brushes close to the trees.

"Shut up!" One of the men said in a hushed voice.

Nate stepped through the brush to see older dark haired man on the ground, with a broken leg that appeared to be twisted out to the right. The blonde man was helping or at least trying to help with the man's injury. A tree root was visible not too far from the two men. The two men eyed Nate as though he were a monster of some sort.  
>"Holy shit! no way! that is sick." Nate said with a chuckle.<p>

"HELP ME!" The injured man yelled to Nate.

"I've got six bullets here. Think that'll help?" Nate asked while moving towards the two, gun gripped in his left hand.

''You fucker! why don't you just leave us alone?" The blonde man yelled in spite.

"Because you two still have something that belongs to me." Nate said, now a few feet away from the men.

"Dammit!" The older man with the turned leg said through his teeth.

"If it makes you feel any better, I kind of like what you're doing with your hair." Nate said about to grab the bag.

"Sorry, Greg!" The blonde man yelled while quickly snatching the bag and running towards the woods. Nate turned and fired a shot through the man's leg before he could run ten feet. The man began staggering forward and slightly hopping on one leg, as he did Nate shot through his other leg. He fell to the ground, dropping the bag in front of him.  
>"AHHH!" The man yelled while grabbing at his legs.<p>

"I think you guys should probably consider giving me the bag." Nate said while staring at Greg.

"How could you do this to us?" Greg asked.

"Good question." Nate said before walking towards Greg and bending down beside him.  
>"I guess I just don't know any better." He said with the look of a rabid animal, eyes wide with bloodlust. Nate stood and turned to the man he had just shot.<p>

"Wait, you can't just lea-" Greg said before Nate lifted the gun and shot through the side of his head. Greg's head hit the ground, blood spraying and pouring along the ground.

"HELP! HELP ME! PLEASE! SOMEONE!" The younger man yelled as he tried to crawl away.

"Whoa, easy now. I'm not going to hurt ya, little buddy." Nate picked up the backpack and swung it over his right shoulder.  
>"But the dead ones might. This gun is pretty loud after all, so get to crawling boy!" Nate began moving towards the path-way back to camp.<p>

"My people will find you! I swear it!" He yelled.

"I'm really scared now." Nate said sarcastically without looking back. The man continued to yell for help as Nate casually made his way through the woods. Eventually Nate couldn't hear the screams anymore. As Nate neared the river he turned to the left, no bridge. He turned to the right and saw the wooden bridge just as he had left it. He crossed the bridge and made his way to the right along the river. The log in which he was sitting on was dead-ahead only a couple of meters away. Once he reached the camp he saw Isabel sitting with Jeremy resting his head on her lap as she pet his semi-long brown hair.  
>"Dammit, Jeremy. You beat me to it!" Nate joked as he dropped the bag.<p>

Jeremy sprang up, embarrassed.  
>"We weren't doing anything, man."<p>

"Why so defensive? I'm proud of you, boy!" Nate said as he approached. Jeremy stood up,

"We're just friends!"

"Aw, we all know that's not true! just look at you blush like a little school-girl." Nate pulled him close and into a headlock and began to run his knuckles through his hair as you might a younger brother.

"Hey! cut that out!" Jeremy pleaded.

"Hey, Nate. What happened to your head?" Isabel asked. Nate let Jeremy go and rubbed his head,

"Oh this? A pot fell off of a shelf and hit my head when I was rummaging through that house."

"Where did you get the backpack?" She questioned.

"It was in the house along with a couple of walkers, your welcome by the way."

"And that gun?" She said while crossing her arms.

"In. the. house." He continued in his lie.

"Interesting, and those gunshots?" She persisted.

"I ran into a couple of walkers on my way back."

"Nate if you took this stuff from some people you met along the way, you have to let us know." She said as she moved closer to him.

"I think he is telling the truth. Cut him some slack, Bell." Jeremy said.

"Don't you have some nursing to do?" Nate asked.

"Yeah." She said with a distasteful glare as she placed the cloth back around her face, picked up the backpack and walked back into the tent.

"Sheesh, what a paranoid piece of ass." Nate said to Jeremy.

"Don't call her that, man."

"Wouldn't wanna get into a fight with you over it." Nate made his way towards the log and sat down, continuing to stare off at the trees. Nate sighed in boredom then laid down and stared at the clear blue sky. Jeremy came over and sat down beside the log towards Nate.

"You know, it seems like Isabel sees me as a brother or something. I, uh have been trying to be subtle and get to know her but I've never been with a girl before."

"Are you asking for advice?" Nate said with a chuckle.

"You've been with women before right?" Jeremy asked.

"Look, kid. Don't tell anyone I told you this, but, I never had a threesome before and the only times I ever get any are during one night stands when they're drunk."

"No, I mean I think I like her."

"Like? HA! Alright look kid, you need to grow some balls and toughen up or else you're not ever going to get that chick."

"Toughen up?"

"Yeah, stop being such a pussy and kill some walkers or something."

"I-I uh.."

"'I-I uh' am a scared little wimp with no back bone. How about later on I take you out for some practice? what do you say?"

"Sure, I guess that sounds good. You could show me how to not be afraid of those things."

"You have got to me kidding me..." Nate said, putting no faith in Jeremy. Nate closed his eyes, trying to relax.  
>"Kid, you want to go fetch me a drink or something?"<p>

"Sure, pal." Jeremy said as he walked towards the crate beside the tent.

"'Sure pal'" Nate mocked in a high-pitched voice.

Isabel made her way out of the tent and towards Nate. As she stood before him she tossed a red rag towards him,  
>"Found that in the bag, along with a number of other things we didn't need."<p>

"I cleared that house out, okay."

"Lee wants to talk to you."

"You tell daddy that you think I'm am being a bad boy?"

"No, I actually didn't even mention it. He asked for you and that rag is for not getting sick, if you haven't figured that out."

Nate stood and tied the rag around his face and stood.  
>"Guess I'll go see what he wants."<p>

Jeremy approached with a red bottle of rum,  
>"Found it."<p>

"You have the first sip, I'll be back in a minute." Nate said as he approached the tent. He lifted the tent's entrance to see Lee lying under a cover with wearing a white T-shirt. His beard and hair hadn't been cut in months so he had a messy afro he tried to contain in a grey ball-cap he found also a long Spartan beard had taken over his face.  
>"Hello, witness."<p>

"Hey, man. Thanks for heading to that farm for me." He said weakly.

"Yeah it was nothing, kind of fun getting away from this place for awhile."

"I'm sure it is."

"So you feeling any better?" Nate asked blankly.

"Considering that I just took the meds, no, I'm not feeling much different." Lee said with a slight laugh.

"Hopefully the nurse out there will get off of my case."

"What do you mean?"

"She thinks I robbed people to get these meds."

"And did you?"

"Lee, you know me better than this. Of course I didn't."

"Alright then." Lee said, doubtfully.

"Maybe we should of left Georgia like everyone else."

"You could have left if you wanted to."

"So is that all you wanted?" Nate asked.

"I wanted to ask if you think Hershel's farm looked like a place we could hold up in."

"Well, the barn is burnt the ground. The fences were knocked down. And the house looks a little rough around the edges."

"I guess not, then."

"Yup."

"I wonder if there is anywhere around here where we could stay."

"I know for a fact that there is a prison not too far from here, we could try there."

"That is actually a pretty good idea."

"So that it, Lee?"

"Yeah."

"Alright well then uh, get well soon and all that good stuff..."

"Uh, thanks. I appreciate it."

Nate left the tent and tossed the rag to the side and approached his log in which Jeremy was sitting with the rum. He snatched the bottle and began to drink it selfishly.  
>"I guess we are going to jail later on."<p>

"What?" Jeremy asked.

"Don't worry about it." Nate said as he finished off the rum and laid up against the log.


	14. Retribution

**Author's Note: My main computer has been hacked or so I think. I haven't been able to lengthen my stories the way I would like to, due to the lack of access to a computer. I am using my sister's computer without her knowledge, which isn't easy to do if you knew my sister. I will try to publish longer and better chapters in the future. Also I would like to thank you guys for reading this story. I know Lee stories are a bit outdated but I wanted to do this, thanks again and enjoy. **

Day 360, Chestlehurst road, GA, 8:58 AM

Lee had been walking for several minutes down a road which supposedly leads to a large correctional facility. Before that it had been a walk through the woods for about an hour or so. Lee had Nate, Isabel, and Jeremy stay near the river to avoid risking the whole group. Lee adjusted his grey hat slightly to the right and wiped some sweat from his forehead. Lee noticed a rectangular sign ahead on the right side of the road. He approached it, it read: _'HITCHHIKERS MAY BE ESCAPING INMATES'_.  
>"I guess Nate was right..." Lee said while moving past a car which appeared to have been burned to a crisp. Lee continued on for maybe half an hour until he could see the prison ahead. He saw tall chain fences and even taller guard towers.<br>"Well, there it is."  
>Lee made his way up to the fence seeing vehicles of various kinds parked closer to the cell blocks.<br>"Looks like there are people living here." Lee inferred as he walked along the fence line. He stopped because he saw a man walking with a boy in the distance. He turned to leave in case the people living in the prison weren't friendly.

"Can I help you?" A man called from the other side of the fence approaching from the left.

Lee turned to face the yard in which he heard the calling. A familiar face was approaching, an old man with one leg, crutches, and a fully grown beard,  
>"Hershel?"<p>

"Do I know you?" Hershel asked as he made his way up to the fence.

Lee's eyes widened with surprise, "Its me, Lee."

"Lee? I'm afraid I don't remember you." Hershel said as he stopped near the fence.

"When this all started your son gave me a ride to your farm."

"You mean Shawn? Then you were there when he was attacked... if I'm not mistaken." Hershel said with sorrowful eyes.

"I-"

"Don't be. It was my own fault for not seeing what was coming. Even after his death I still believed the dead were just sick people. For a long time I lived in ignorance."

"So, uh how are things now, Hershel?" Lee asked, trying to divert the conversation away from the current topic.

"They have been difficult, to say the least. What about yourself?" Hershel asked.

"Well I'm sure you have seen my arm." Lee said.

"Was it a bite?" Hershel asked.

"Yeah. It was." Lee said.

"I had a similar problem with my leg as you can see. But honestly I'm more concerned about that hair of yours." Hershel joked.

"I agree with you there." Lee replied humorously.

"What happened to the girl you were with?"

"I-Its a long story. We got separated and I've been looking for her ever since." Lee said.

"You are welcome to join us here. We're letting in anyone we come across. If she is in the area, we'll find her." Hershel assured him.

"Thank you but I can't." Lee said.

"Its too dangerous right now to be scouting around Georgia." Hershel told him.

"Hershel, everything we do is dangerous. If we go outside we're risking our lives. If we take a drink of water, we're risking our lives. Sometimes even breathing is risking our lives. The only choice we have now is what we are risking our lives for." Lee said.

"There is some wisdom in your words, I wont forget them." Hershel said.

"I have to get back to my people now, it has been really good seeing you." Lee said.

"Take care and remember my offer." Hershel told him.

"I will, and if you find Clementine, keep her safe will you?" Lee asked as he turned towards the road.

"I will." Hershel replied.

Lee began walking down the road, back to camp. He continued on for what seemed like an hour. At this point he was in the woods and probably not too far from where he left the others.  
>"Maybe I'm just wasting my time..." Lee said to himself quietly. "She might have either left Georgia or-"<p>

"Sir?" a deep voice called from behind.

Lee turned to face the stranger. It was an older light-skinned man with short grey-brown hair and a long grey goatee, also wearing camouflage pants and a dirty sleeveless tan shirt. He was accompanied by a younger woman with a similar complexion, she had red hair, wearing a brown jacket and blue jeans.

"Can I help you folks?" Lee asked.

The man looked to his female companion then looked back to Lee,  
>"We're looking for our people."<p>

"I'm sorry, I haven't met anyone else around here." Lee replied.

The female spoke up, "Do you have a group with you? Maybe they know what happened to our people."

"I seriously doubt it but you're welcome to ask them, if you want." Lee told her.

"Well, it's the only lead we have so far. Take us to them." She said.

"Uh, my name is, Lee, by the way."

The older man let out an irritable laugh, "Where are our manners? Sorry we're a little absent minded for obvious reasons. I'm Jorge and this is Tina."

"Now that the introduction is out of the way we would really like to get this going, we haven't a lot of time." Tina said.

"I understand." Lee said while turning to lead them towards the camp.

After two minutes the river was visible in the distance between the several trees ahead.

"So, Lee, what are your people like?" Tina asked.

"Don't worry, they don't bite. Most of them at least." Lee replied.

"Most of them?"

"Yeah, Nate can be a bit... unpredictable." Lee told her.

"I see."

"But he seems tame enough. I wouldn't worry."

"Hold up." Jorge said in a hushed voice instantly changing the tone. The three stopped in their tracks and began slightly crouching while looking around.  
>"Do you see em?"<p>

Lee began scanning his surroundings until he noticed a pair of female walkers up ahead,  
>"Yeah."<p>

"Looks like these two ladies are lost. Maybe we should help them." Jorge joked.

"Three of us, two of them." Tina said while pulling out a blue pocket knife.

"I can handle it." Lee told him.

"Really?" Jorge asked.

"Yeah, watch me." Lee said before he began jogging towards the two walkers with the others not far behind. He stopped ten feet away from them. He then picked up a palm-sized rock from the ground and walked towards the walker that was in a closer proximity.

"Auuugh..." The walker moaned unaware of Lee's presence. She had black hair and a dirty checkered dress. Lee readied his stance as he snuck up right behind the walker. After a second of anticipation he quickly swung the clutched rock in his hand and met bone with stone, knocking the walker over onto her side. He then proceeded to quickly deal one strong stomp to her head, smashing her head in.

"Raaaaauuuurgh!" The other female walker with brown hair, a torn pair of blue jeans, and blue shirt growled while advancing towards Lee, arms outstretched.

Lee took the blood-stained rock he was holding and chucked it straight at the incoming walker making contact with the right side of her forehead, penetrating her skull in the process, only stumbled by the attack. Lee advanced towards her as she did the same to him. He grabbed her by the neck and tossed her to the ground.  
>"Auuraaagh!" She snarled while slowly attempting to get back up.<p>

Lee stepped on the rock which pierced the walker's skull and it sunk down deeper into her head, killing her.

"Not too shabby." Jorge said.

"Lets keep moving." Lee said.

Six minutes later they could see the orange tent not too far ahead.

"So, how many do you have with you?" Tina asked.

"Three, but I used to have dozens of people to look after." Lee replied.

"Huh, so there's, Nate and?"

"Isabel, and Jeremy are the other two. Isabel, she can look after herself while Jeremy needs a bit of help from time to time."

The three approached the orange tent. Isabel and Jeremy were sitting on the log talking and tossing stones into the river. Nate was leaning against a tree to the right of them with his cap down covering his eyes. Isabel turned, noticing Lee approach with Tina and Jorge.  
>"So, is this prison a go?"<p>

"Nope. This is Jorge and Tina, they're looking for their people have you two met anyone else around here?" Lee asked.

"I haven't even left camp." Jeremy said.

"No, sorry." Isabel said to Jorge and Tina.

The two looked at each other with worry on their faces.

"What about you, Nate?" Lee asked.

Nate let out a long irritated breath then used his 44. to lift his hat off of his face,  
>"No." He said plainly.<p>

Jorge's eyes widened at the sight of the gun. He looked to Tina who paused for a moment then spoke,  
>"Thank you for the help, we'll just be on our way..."<p>

The two began walking past the tent.

"Everything okay?" Lee asked.

"No." Jorge said in a cold tone while walking away.

After they left Lee turned to Nate,  
>"The fuck was that?"<p>

"How the hell should I know?" Nate asked with laugh.

"You killed their people to get that gun and backpack didn't you?" Lee questioned furiously.

Nate stood and put away the 44. Magnum,  
>"I did what was necessary. You are alive because of me."<p>

Jeremy and Isabel stood, unsure of what to do.

"Fuck..." Lee said as he made his way towards the duffle bag next to the tent. He pulled out three M4 assault rifles, laying each one down beside him.

"What's all this?" Nate asked.

"We are leaving this place. That is what THIS is..." Lee said angrily while he zipped up the duffle bag and swung it over his shoulder.  
>"Do you remember where we left the truck?" Lee asked Nate.<p>

"Yeah, just up the highway." Nate said as he picked up one of the guns Lee laid out. Jeremy and Isabel did the same.

"So, wait up, you think they might come back to kill us?" Jeremy asked.

"Maybe, but that isn't going to happen." Lee said.

"So, where are we going now?" Isabel asked.

"I think it is high time we head up north, with the rest of our people." Lee told them as he followed Nate away from the camp.

"But what about, you know..." Isabel asked.

Lee sighed with a face of sorrow, "Sometimes... we all have to move on... The chances of me finding her are too slim..." Lee said in a low tone.

"Are you okay?" Jeremy asked.

"I'm alive aren't I? for all the good its done..." Lee said before silence fell on the group.

An hour and a half later the truck was in sight, covered in a white tarp. It began to rain several minutes ago.

"Well I guess next stop: Wellington." Nate inferred.

The group made their way towards the truck and began pulling the tarp off over the roof lights and onto the truck-bed. Lee tossed the duffle bag into the back while Isabel covered it with the tarp.

"I know what you just did wasn't easy for you, do you want to talk about it?" Isabel asked.

"I'm fine, lets just get moving." Lee told her.

"Okay, Lee." She said.

Nate opened the door to the passenger's side door and was about to climb in but stopped,  
>"So, uh you sure about this?"<p>

"There-" Lee said before being met with a shot to the shoulder. He fell onto his side and yelled in pain. He looked up to see Nate offloading a barrage of bullets towards the woods on the driver's side of the truck. He turned to see Isabel unconscious on her side facing away by the rear wheel, bullet holes visible on her back. Jeremy was firing back while yelling. Shots rang out around them. Lee examined his wound, just a flesh wound. He then attempted the crawl towards Isabel shots still firing on both sides.

"Isabel?" Lee called, still dazed by the situation.

He pulled her towards him and examined her face. Blood was pouring out of her mouth. Lee knew she was in pain so he pulled his pistol from his side and looked into her eyes, she looked peaceful as she laid in on his lap. Lee aimed the gun at her face and pulled the trigger.

"I'm sorry..." Lee said as he laid her down onto the ground.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's note: I want to thank my readers. I really appreciate the reviews left for the last chapter. They were touching, compassionate, and inspiring. I often find myself thinking about what should happen to Lee next, often when I have any free-time or before bed. Between planning, research, and typing, more work is put into this story than I anticipated but it's all worth it at the end of the week. Anyway enjoy and please tell me if I am doing anything wrong, it's important to improvement. Thanks again.**

Day 360, Chestlehurst road, GA, 10:55 AM.

The rain continued to fall...

Lee held his gun in disbelief, staring down at what remained of Isabel. Lee began evaluating the situation. There used to be two shooters across the road that Jeremy and Nate killed almost as soon as Isabel went down. On their side there were others in the woods firing various guns at them. Lee looked up to see Jeremy sitting against the rear wheel of the truck, tears rolling down his face. Lee then turned to Nate. Nate was leaning against the truck, focusing on listening to the gunshots. Every few seconds he would attempt to return fire when ever he heard that the gunshots had subsided but would quickly drop back down after hearing the gunshots followed by the bullets flying past his head.

"Lee, you've got to distract them for me." Nate stated.

"How many are there?" Lee asked.

"About three left, already took down four of them." Nate explained.

"Alright, I'll get their attention. Be ready to act when I say." Lee told him.

"Get a move on!" Nate urged.

Lee surveyed his surrounding, the road, the tree line. The only possible chance he had was running for cover by the tree which was ten feet directly behind the truck. Lee looked at Jeremy, who was pulling on his blonde hair in disbelief.

"Jeremy, listen to me." Lee said.

"She's dead, man. She really is!" Jeremy said in a panicked state.

"I know! But we need your help here."

"I-I'll try..."

"Good. Help Nate with taking out those guys in the woods, I'm going to run for cover behind that tree over there."

"Okay." Jeremy said while wiping rain water off of his face and grabbing his gun.

"Okay, here I go..." Lee said as he began running while ducking to avoid poking his head up and being shot. For around four seconds Lee sprinted towards the tree, free of cover. In that time six bullets flew towards him, missing each time.  
>"Now!" Lee yelled right before reaching cover.<p>

"Take this, ASSHOLES!" Nate yelled as he and Jeremy simultaneously stood up and began firing towards the woods, offloading what was left of their ammunition.

"Help! I'm hit!" Jorge yelled in pain behind a tree.

"Hold on!" A shirtless, black-haired, Caucasian man yelled in a southern accent. The man began running towards Jorge, dropping his AK-47 while on the way.

Lee pulled his pistol from its holster and aimed just in front of the man and fired a precise shot, hitting the man straight through the temple. The man collapsed and slid forward with momentum.

"Nice shot Lee!" Nate called behind cover.

Lee leaned against the tree and began peaking along the right side of the tree closer to the truck to start a body count. The two men that Nate and Jeremy killed across the street, the two others on this side of the tree line, Jorge rapidly dying beside a tree, and the man Lee had just shot, six down, one left.  
>"I know you're back there! just leave and we wont harm you!" Lee called.<p>

"Another one of your lies, huh?!" A high-pitched voice called within the woods.

Nate and Jeremy looked to Lee, confused.

"We don't have to make this any worse!" Lee yelled.

"Yes we do!" The unknown person called.

Nate pulled out his 44. and tilted his head, motioning to Lee that he had him covered.

"Fuck..." Lee said to himself as he peered along the opposite side of the tree, facing away from the truck. He didn't see anyone so he began slowly walking into the woods, gun in hand. He continued, ensuring to keep an eye on the dead scattered among the trees. He stopped, noticing Jorge's hand twitch. Lee suddenly felt a sharp pain course through his head. He fell to into the muddy ground in agony, unable to grab his forehead due to the lack of a left arm. He opened his eyes and turned only to find himself looking down the end of a barrel to an AK-47.

"Don't move." The stranger instructed him.

Lee looked past the barrel to see a familiar face, the boy in the road. He still had his brown jacket and his black hair had grown to his shoulders.

"You fucking liar..." The boy said with tears rolling down his eyes.

"Calm down its-"

"SHUT UP!" He yelled.

Lee didn't speak.

"You kill my dad, then my brother, and now my grandfather?!" The boy said edging the gun closer to Lee's face.

"I didn't do any of that." Lee told him.

"When are the lies going to end?-Actually don't answer that I already know, when I blow your face off, THATS WHEN!"

"He's not lying." Nate said as he approached, stopping and standing in front of Jorge's corpse, 44. Magnum revolver in hand.  
>"Was this your brother's?"<p>

"Get away from my grandfather..." The boy warned, still aiming at Lee.

Jorge slowly began to rise, dead, blood covering his chin and neck. Nate pointed the revolver at Jorge's head. The boy's eyes widened in fear. Nate quickly pulled the trigger and fired, without looking. Jorge hit the ground for the second time, never to get up again.  
>"Was your brother's name, Greg? if so I just demonstrated how I killed him on dear old grampy here." Nate said with a demented look on his face, a twisted smile, eyes wide with excitement.<p>

"S-Shut-" The boy said, trembling uncontrollably with a look of sheer anger and fear.

"Shut up? or what? you going to kill Lee? The moment you do I will kill you then I'll kill Tina and anyone else you have over in that camp of yours, genocide!" Nate told him with a devilish smile.

Lee himself was put at unease by Nate's behavior and choice of words.

"I'm going to..." The boy began slowly.

"Do it! PULL THE TRIGGER! COME ON!" Nate yelled with a furious look on his face.

The boy dropped the gun and turned, running away in fear. Lee watched him run away, guilt beginning to swell up inside his being. Nate approached and outstretched his hand to help him up,

"Come on, Lee, lets get moving." Nate said, expression changed to a friendly smile. Nate grabbed Lee's forearm and pulled him up to his feet.

"Nate, just... damn..." Lee said as he made his way towards the truck. Once he arrived at the truck he saw Jeremy crouched beside Isabel, head down.

"Come on, kid. There's no time to be sitting around mourning. walkers are bound to show up and maybe more of those redneck fucks." Nate said.

"Yeah, alright... Lets go..." Jeremy said before hopping into the back of the truck.

"You sure you don't want to sit in front?" Lee asked.

"I want to be alone." Jeremy said.

"Hey, Nate, are our wheels hit?" Lee asked.

"Nope, dumb inbred fucks can't aim for shit." Nate said while using the 44. to scoot glass off the seat of his truck.

Lee held his shoulder, the left shoulder of jacket was shot open. Only about a centimeter of flesh was taken off. He felt the left-side of his forehead, bruised but not bloody. Lee could feel the rain begin to worsen. He could see a few walkers in the woods. Lee put away his gun and sat down in the passenger's side and quickly shut the door. Lee buckled his seatbelt, in case of Nate's erratic driving.

"Don't mind the glass on the ground." Nate said jokingly before shutting his door and starting up the truck. Nate turned on his headlights, only one came on,  
>"Damn... not again."<p>

"Tell me what happened with Greg." Lee said in a tired, depressed tone.

"Like father, Like son. He tried to rob me but I managed to disarm him and it turned into a wrestling match. After awhile I managed to beat him senseless, then I took his gun off the ground and shot him. I grabbed his backpack and that was it." Nate explained.

Lee turned around to check on Jeremy, he was lying on his side, arms wrapped around his legs, eyes shut. Due to the rain it was hard to tell whether he was crying or not. Lee took off his hat and dropped it onto the floor of the truck.

"Might take a few days to get to Michigan." Nate said.

"Herds, refueling, resupplying, mapping, resting, I think it might take a little longer than you think." Lee said.

"If you say so, man." Nate replied.

Lee tilted his head forward and shut his eyes.

_Lee examined the fence from inside the motor inn. There were several arrows sticking out of it. _

_"Lee?" Clementine called _

_"What is it, sweet pea?" Lee answered._

_"Those bad people, do you think they will ever go away?" Clementine asked._

_"I don't know. Maybe Kenny is right about leaving." Lee said._

_"Maybe it'll get better, like you said it would." Clementine said._

_"We can only hope." Lee told her._

_"I hope my parents are okay." Clementine said._

_"Remember what I told you? When we first met?" Lee asked._

_"To always stay close to you, right?" She responded with a smile._

_"That's right." He confirmed, returning the smile.  
>"I'm sure things will get better. One day."<br>_

_"Me too." _

Day 360, Richmond, KY, 8:30 PM

Lee slowly opened his eyes to see the dark of night, the only light source was Nate's right head light and one of the lights on the roof as they illuminated some of the road in front of them.  
>"Where are we?" Lee asked.<p>

"A town some place, Pretty sure we're in Kentucky. We are making great time." Nate said.

"How is Jeremy?" Lee asked as he stretched and yawned.

"Moron is probably freezing his ass off back there. Been sleeping just as you have." Nate said with a chuckle.

"Maybe we shou-"

The truck's engine suddenly started sputtering and the truck came to a slow but sure stop in the middle of the road.

"Damn. What the hell?" Nate said as he got out of his truck and slammed the door.

Lee took off his seatbelt and opened his door and stepped out into the night.

"Everything okay?" Jeremy asked.

"We're fine just sit tight." Lee said as he made his way to the front of the truck.

The hood was raised. Nate had a mini-flashlight he was holding in his mouth for light.

"How are we doing?" Lee asked.

"I think we may have a case of complete engine failure. Damn thing is cracked, I must have forgot to change the water or something." Nate explained.

"So what do we do?" Lee asked.

The moans of several walkers in the darkness could be heard closing in on their location.

"I think we should run. What do you think?" Nate joked.

"Jeremy, grab the bag, we can't leave it." Lee ordered.

"Okay, I got it. Lets go." Jeremy said before hopping out of the truck.

The three began running down the street. Nate used his flashlight to guide the way through the night. Lee took to the right, Jeremy took to the left, Nate continued to lead the way just ahead and between them. Every couple of seconds the sound of a walker growling or moaning would bypass their hearing and quickly dissipate as they continued running down the street.

"Keep it together, people!" Nate yelled.

Lee suddenly felt himself being pulled back by a walker in the dark by his right arm then quickly feeling a pinch on his forearm. Lee kicked at the invisible enemy until he managed to shake free. When he turned back into the direction of his companions he saw the light from Nate's flashlight several yards away.

"Hey! Wait!" Lee yelled as he sprinted towards the light.

Nate suddenly stopped, having seen a candle in the window of one of the houses. Lee could see Nate run up to the door and began beating on the door with his flashlight. Dozens of walkers could be heard up and down the street.

"Open up!" Nate yelled.

Lee managed to regroup with Nate and Jeremy and just as he did the door to the house slowly swung inward. There was orange light illuminating the small home before them. Nate ran inside followed by Jeremy and Lee. The stranger quickly slammed the door shut. The house they were in had several antique paintings and furniture along the small living room along with a counter next to a stove and an old refrigerator. Past that was a small hallway towards the back of the house with two doors, presumably a bedroom and a bathroom. Candles of various kinds lit up the house. Lee turned to see who it was who had just rescued them. It was an old Caucasian woman, hair greyed with several strands of white also visible. She had on a long sleeved pink flower nightgown, she was maybe around sixty years old.

"You boys gave me quite a fright." The woman said as she turned several locks shut.

"Yeah, sorry.. about that." Lee said as he attempted to catch his breath.

"Is there anything you might need?" She asked.

"I think we're doing just fine now, thanks to you." Lee said.

The sound of walkers banging on the front door and walls of the house could be heard.

"Don't mind them. They can't get in, thanks to my husband's paranoia." She said as she made her way to her small kitchen.

Lee bent down in front of the window near the couch, the curtains were spread open and a candle was sitting on the windowsill.

"What if they break the windows?" Lee asked.

"My husband was a welder, he built bars for each window after the neighbor's son broke in and stole from us." She explained as she opened her fridge and pulled out a large can.

"That's smart. Where is your husband?" Lee asked.

"Oh old Delvin is in the vase by the TV..." She said while pulling out three glass bowls.

"I'm Lee, and this is Nate and Jeremy."

Jeremy waved, Nate simply sat down on the couch covered in a flower design.

"It's so nice to have visitors for a change. You can call me Debbie."

"So how did you make it for so long?" Jeremy asked.

"Oh I just try to stay indoors for as long as I can." Debbie said as she picked up a can-opener and began to cut the lid off the large can with it.

"What you got there, granny?" Nate asked with a smile.

"Peaches, Got about fifty boxes of them in the basement outside along with several gallons of water. My husband was always going on about the end of the world. He was a real nutter!" She said with a laugh as she used a spoon to scoop sliced pre-peaches into each of the bowls.

"So you pretty much have been able to survive just by staying indoors and only leaving to carry in food from the basement?" Lee asked.

"That's right. Lucky for me I don't need to take any pills like Delvin had to."

"So you've never had any problems before?" Jeremy asked.

"The winter was dreadful. But I managed to stay warm under my blankets. And those hateful boys with their silly little truck and their guns." She said

"Truck? Guns?" Nate asked.

"Oh yes. I have to duck and cover whenever I hear them coming down the road. They fire those big army guns while speeding and yelling, completely clearing the street of those monsters outside. I believe they're staying at the elementary school, they yelled it out one time after they finished shooting up the street." She explained as she handed a bowl to Nate, then one to Jeremy.

"Sounds like they were doing you a favor, killing those walkers." Nate inferred.

"They shot through my home and scared me half to death. I never have any problems with those monster to begin with." She said as she walked back to her counter and picked up the third bowl.

"Maybe we could get those guys to stop shooting up your neighbor hood?" Nate suggested.

"Asking them nicely might get them to stop. I'd really appreciate it." Debbie said as she handed Lee his bowl of peaches.

"We'll see what we can do tomorrow." Lee said.

"Maybe they will be nice enough to give us their truck? And maybe some other stuff." Nate said with a grin.

Debbie looked to Lee with a look as though she had just noticed something was wrong.

"Your arm! It's gone!" She exclaimed.

Nate busted out laughing, spitting his food out in the process. Lee frowned at Nate then softened his expression while he turned to Debbie,

"Yeah, had to cut it off after one of those 'monsters' bit me." Lee explained.

"That's ridiculous, honey. Why would you do that?" She asked.

"Actually it turns out the monsters can turn anyone into a monster by biting them." Lee told her.

"That's not good." She said.

"I know." Lee said.

"Well I'll just leave you boys to enjoy your sleep over. An old woman needs her rest." She said before turning and walking down the hall.  
>"Goodnight, boys."<p>

"Night, granny!" Nate called back.

She smiled sweetly and opened the door on the left and entered.

"Okay, that lady is bat-shit crazy." Nate inferred to Jeremy who was sitting beside him.

"Your one to talk..." Lee said before sitting down in the brown recliner on the opposite side of the room.

Day 361, 501 Big Hill Ave, Richmond, KY, 7:34 AM

"Well... there's that elementary school the old bat was talking about." Nate said.

"They are bound to have supplies. But are they just going to give them to us?" Lee asked.

"I don't like this." Jeremy said.

"Grow some balls." Nate said.

The three approached the elementary school. No sound could be heard, only silence. The chain-link fence that goes around the school was knocked down. Wooden barricades possibly placed by the survivors were knocked down also. Beside the entrance to the school were two trucks, parked without care. The one on their right was green

"This is odd." Lee said.

"Maybe nobody is home. We should grab one of those trucks while we still can." Nate said, stopping a few feet away from the double-doors which were wide open.

"Unnnngghh..." A walker moaned as he slowly stepped of the school. He was a large, now grey skinned walker. Wearing a grey sweatshirt and blue-jeans.

"The hell?" Lee said as he pulled his knife out from its sheath and began advancing towards him.

The walker reached its arms out to Lee and began shuffling towards him. Once the walker was close enough Lee moved to the side of him and kicked at the back of his left knee. The walker fell back with a loud thump. Lee then dealt a single stab at the walker's eye, killing it instantly. Lee pulled his knife out from its eye and began wiping it on his already quite filthy jeans.

"I think we may be in business after all." Nate inferred before pulling out his flash-light and 44. and entering the school.

"Maybe." Lee said as he followed right behind him.

The room was littered with bodies of grown men, not children. Few walkers were roaming the hall they could see past the check-inn counter. Nate began examining the dead below him for the truck keys. After a couple of minutes he jingled them above his head,

"Found em." Nate announced.

"What do you think happened here?" Lee asked.

"Over-dosing looks like. Then it all turned into a confused firefight among the drunk and high." Nate explained.

"That is really stupid." Jeremy said.

"Well lets get back to Debbie and let her know these guys won't be a problem anymore." Lee said.

The three exited the school and stared at the two trucks.

"A bowl of peaches if its the red one." Nate said.

"I'm going with the green one." Lee replied.

Nate approached the red truck and unlocked the driver's side door. He then placed the keys in the ignition and turned them. The truck started up instantly.

"Hell yeah!" Nate said as he slid in behind the wheel.

A couple minutes later they arrived back at Debbie's house. In the light of day the house could be seen. It was white and had a single step porch. The drive way up to the house had a roof to shade a car, held up by the house and thin rods built into the concrete of the driveway. Nate parked the truck in the grass beside the cover.

"Why not just park by the house?" Lee asked.

"Because I need a place to put my truck." Nate replied.

"Your truck? what are you talking about?"

"Yeah, me and that truck have kind of been everywhere together so I'm not about to let it rot on the side of the road."

"Are you going to fix it?" Jeremy asked.

"That isn't a bad idea." Nate said.

"You said, 'engine failure' last night. You're going to replace the engine?" Lee asked.

"Yeah. If you don't like that then you can walk." Nate said as they all got out of the truck.

"You're joking." Lee said.

"When do I ever joke?" Nate asked.

Lee and Jeremy looked to each other with eyebrows raised.

"How long would it take to fix your truck?" Lee asked, following Nate towards the front door.

"Awhile." Nate told him.

"Great." Lee said as they made their way into Debbie's house.

"Granny! I'm home!" Nate called as he walked to the back room and peaked inside. He slowly shut the door and turned to Jeremy and Lee with his finger over his lips to single them to be quiet.

Lee shrugged and instantly felt pain in his left shoulder. He cringed and sat down on the couch. Jeremy was instantly reminded of the event that transpired the previous day. With a saddened look, Jeremy sat down in the recliner. Lee noticed,

"How ya holding up, kid?" Lee asked.

"Why would they just attack us like that... we didn't do anything wrong..." Jeremy said while staring at the wall.

"I know, man."

Nate crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall in the hallway and looked away with a, 'you have got to be kidding me' look.

"I wish I could have told her how I felt before..." Jeremy said before a tear rolled down his face.

"I'm sure she knows. You didn't need to say it, something tells me that she knew and she felt the same way." Lee tried.

"I sure hope so." Jeremy said.

"Try to let it go." Lee told him.

"So, Jeremy. Instead of playing with this guy, how about I show you a few things about fixing up a truck? We need to push my truck over here. You can help me with that." Nate said as he walked towards Jeremy and let out his hand.

"Sure." Jeremy said before standing up and walking out with Nate.

Lee stood and walked to the counter after they left. He began examining the kitchen, there were bowls and spoons in the sink. Lee made his way to the fridge, which had no electricity, and opened it. He pulled out a can of peaches and was instantly saddened by sight of it. There was a cartoon-like girl on the can with a red shirt and overalls, rosy red cheeks, and short pig-tails. Lee clenched the can then tossed it towards the ground furiously. A loud banging sound erupted from it. Lee stood with his head bowed and eyes shut, saddened.


End file.
